P  S 

1000 

A8 

M3 

1852 

MAIN 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-three,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


M.4//J 


PREFACE. 


THE  design  of  the  series  of  volumes,  entitled 
MARCO  PAUL'S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  PURSUIT  OF 
KNOWLEDGE,  is  not  merely  to  entertain  the  reader 
with  a  narrative  of  juvenile  adventures,  but  also  to 
communicate,  in  connection  with  them,  as  extensive 
and  varied  information  as  possible,  in  respect  to 
the  geography,  the  scenery,  the  customs  and  the 
institutions  of  this  country,  as  they  present  them 
selves  to  the  observation  of  the  little  traveler,  who 
makes  his  excursions  under  the  guidance  of  an 
intelligent  and  well-informed  companion,  qualified 
<o  assist  him  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  in 
he  formation  of  character.  The  author  has  en 
deavored  to  enliven  Kis  narrative,  and  to  infuse  into 
H  elements  of  a  salutary  moral  influence,  by  means 
of  personal  incidents  befalling  the  actors  in  the 
story.  These  incidents  are,  of  course,  imaginary— 


PREFACE. 


but  the  reader  may  rely  upon  the  strict  and  exact 
truth  and  fidelity  of  all  the  descriptions  of  places, 
institutions  and  scenes,  which  are  brought  before 
his  mind  in  the  progress  of  the  narrative.  Thus, 
though  the  author  hopes  that  the  readers  who  may 
honor  these  volumes  with  their  perusal,  will  be 
amused  and  interested  by  them,  his  design  through 
out  will  be  to  instruct  rather  than  to  entertain. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

PA  or 

I.  —  THE  WRONG  BOAT,       .... 

.       11 

II.—  THE  FLOOD  

28 

III.     THE  WATER  SHOPS. 

42 

IV.  —  FORGING.   .         .         .         . 

52 

V.  —  IRON,     ....... 

fiS 

VI.  —  ARCHER  r.           ...... 

82 

VII.  —  TURNING  AND  BORING. 

.   100 

VIII.  —  INSPECTION,         

116 

IX.  —  THE  ARSENAL,      ..... 

.   128 

X.  —  THE  DANGER  OF  BEING  ARMED. 

139 

XI.  —  ORDNANCE.     ...... 

.   156 

XII.  —  THE  BREAKING  Ur,  

177 

ENGRAVINGS. 


PAGE 

THE  WRONG  BOAT, 22 

THE  FLOOD, 39 

STAGE  IN  THE  WATER, 41 

THE  WATER  SHOPS, 49 

THE  FORGING  ROOM, 58 

CASTING, 74 

THE  STOOP,     ........     85 

THE  STREAM, 90 

TESTING  THE  BAYONETS, 118 

FARMER'S  WORK, 124 

MAKING  UP  THE  LOCKS, 131 

THE  RAILWAY  STATION, 141 

MARCO'S  MORTAR,        .  ....       176 

THE  RAFT,      .  .   189 


ORDER  OF  TEE  VOLUMES. 


f  an  I, 

I  __IN  NEW  YORK. 

II  —ON  THE  ERIE  CANAL. 
III.— IN  MAINE. 
IV.— IN  VERMONT. 

V.— IN  BOSTON. 
VI.— AT  THE  SPRINGFIELD  ARMORY. 


PRINCIPAL   PERSONS. 

ME.  BAROV,  a  merchant  of  New  York. 

MARCO,  his  son,  a  boy  about  twelve  years  old. 

JOHN"  FORESTER,  Marco's  cousin,  about  nineteen  years  ol.L 

Marco  is  traveling  and  studying  under  Forester's  care. 


MARCO    PAUL 

AT   THE   SPRINGFIELD   ARMORY. 


CHAPTER    I. 
THE    WRONG    BOAT. 


Visit  to  Vermont.  Marco  takes  charge. 

IT  was  by  a  somewhat  singular  accident  that 
Marco  Paul  had  an  opportunity  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  great  armory  at  Springfield.  The 
circumstances  were  these. 

On  one  occasion,  while  he  was  under  his 
cousin  Forester's  care,  they  were  going  from 
New  York  city  to  Forester's  residence  in  Ver 
mont.  Marco  proposed  that  his  cousin  Fores 
ter  should  allow  him  to  choose  the  route. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Forester,  "  I  have  no  ob 
jection  to  that.  You  may  not  only  choose  the 
route,  but  take  the  charge  and  direction  of  the 
whole  journey." 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,    we    will    suppose,"    said    Forester, 


12         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Forester's  explanation.  Tlie  two  routes. 

"  that  I  am  an  infirm  old  gentleman,  and  that 
you  undertake  to  conduct  me  safely  to  Ver 
mont.  You  may  choose  the  route,  and  make 
all  the  arrangements,  only  letting  me  know  when 
I  must  be  ready.  Then  you  shall  call  the  car 
riage,  and  take  me  to  the  boat,  and  engage  our 
berths,  and  do  every  thing  in  a  word,  which  a 
gentleman  usually  does  for  a  lady  in  such  a 
case." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  I  should  like  that  very- 
much." 

In  fact,  Marco  was  very  much  pleased  with 
the  idea  of  exercising  a  little  power.  So  he 
got  a  traveling  map  of  New  England,  spread  it 
upon  a  table,  and  began  to  study  the  features 
of  the  country,  with  reference  to  the  different 
routes.  There  were  two  routes,  which  princi 
pally  attracted  his  attention.  These  the  reader 
will  understand  very  distinctly  by  consulting  a 
map. 

The  first  was,  to  go  up  the  North  river  in  the 
Troy  boat,  thence  by  railroad  to  the  southern 
end  of  Lake  George,  thence  by  steamboat  along 
the  lakes  George  and  Champlain,  to  Burlington, 
and  from  Burlington  by  stage,  across  the  coun 
try,  to  the  town  where  Forester's  father  lived. 

The  other  route  was  bv  the   wav  of  Boston. 


THE    WRONG    BOAT.  13 


Marco  chooses  the  North  river  route.  The  day  lino. 


Marco  liked  to  be  in  Boston  very  much.  He 
thought  that  he  should  like  very  well  to  go  and 
spend  a  week  at  Boston,  and  then  to  go  across 
the  country  by  railroad  and  stage.  He  hesita 
ted  a  little,  however,  whether  it  would  come 
within  the  limits  of  the  power  which  Forester 
had  intrusted  him  with,  to  spend  a  week  in  Bos 
ton.  While  doubting  on  this  subject,  it  oc 
curred  to  him  that  after  all  there  would  be  the 
greatest  variety  to  be  seen  in  traveling  on  the 
North  river  route.  He  therefore  finally  deci 
ded  upon  that. 

Then  came  another  question  to  be  decided, 
and  that  was,  whether  to  take  the  day  or  the 
night  boat  up  the  North  river.  There  is  one 
steamboat  which  leaves  New  York  for  Albany 
and  Troy  every  morning,  and  another  every 
evening,  so  that  one  goes  through  by  day,  and 
the  other  by  night.  Marco  decided  in  favor  of 
the  day  boat,  in  order  that  he  might  see  the 
scenery. 

This  was  not,  however,  in  fact,  a  very  wise 
decision,  for  the  whole  of  a  long  summer's  day 
is  too  long  a  time  to  spend  in  looking  at  scene 
ry,  however  beautiful  it  may  be,  and  the  pas 
sengers  who  take  the  day  boats  on  the  North 
river  for  this  purpose,  generally  become  very 


14         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Night  line  preferable. 

tired  of  the  pleasure  before  night.  Whereas,  in 
taking  one  of  the  night  boats,  some  of  which 
leave  New  York  an  hour  or  two  before  sunset, 
there  are  four  or  five  hours  before  bed-time,  du 
ring  which  the  river  scenery  can  be  enjoyed, 
varied  too,  as  it  is  at  this  time,  by  the  changing 
light  of  sunset  and  evening,  and  perhaps,  at 
last,  clothed  in  the  wild  and  solemn  beauty 
which  is  shed  over  such  a  scene  by  moonlight, 
or  the  still  fainter  illumination  of  the  stars. 
Thus  a  night  passage  is  far  more  favorable  for 
really  enjoying  the  scenery  of  the  Hudson,  than 
a  long  and  monotonous  voyage,  made  under 
the  full  glare  of  the  sun. 

Besides,  at  the  time  that  Forester  and  Marco 
were  making  this  journey,  it  was  too  early  in 
the  season  to  enjoy  the  scenery  much.  It  was 
early  in  April,  and  though  the  grass  was  quite 
green  at  the  Park  at  New  York,  yet  the  High 
lands  and  Green  Mountains  were  still  covered 
with  snow. 

Marco,  however,  did  not  reflect  on  these 
things,  and  he  decided  upon  the  day  passage. 
The  boat  was  to  go  at  seven  o'clock.  Marco 
learned  this  by  a  printed  handbill,  in  large  let 
ters,  which  he  saw  posted  up  in  the  office  of 
the  Atlantic  Hotel,  where  his  cousin  always 


THE    WRONG    BOAT.  15 


The  handbills.  Arrangements. 

took  a  room  when  he  came  into  New  York. 
There  were  several  of  these  handbills  hanging 
in  the  office,  but,  instead  of  being  placarded  on 
the  walls,  each  by  itself,  they  were  hung  all 
together  upon  a  sort  of  hook  which  was  sus 
pended  against  a  pillar.  These  various  bills 
were  the  advertisements  of  different  boats,  go 
ing  in  various  directions,  and  as  they  were  all 
hung  together  upon  the  same  hook,  the  travel 
ers  who  came  to  consult  them  were  obliged  to 
lift  up  the  outer  ones  when  they  wished  to  see 
those  that  were  beneath.  It  happened,  howev 
er,  that  when  Marco  went  to  look,  the  bill 
which  advertised  the  Albany  boat  was  itself 
the  outer  one  ;  so  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  but 
to  stand  there  and  read  it,  without  lifting  up  the 
handbills  at  all. 

"  Now,  cousin  Forester,"  said  Marco,  the  day 
before  they  were  to  go,  "  I  will  order  a  cab  to 
come  to  our  house  at  six  o'clock,  and  will  come 
down  in  it  to  the  Atlantic  Hotel,  and  call  for 
you." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Forester.  "  I  will  be  ready 
at  six." 

Forester  was  ready  at  six,  but  it  was  nearly 
half-past  six  when  Marco  arrived.  Forester's 
trunks  and  baggage  were  in  the  hall,  and  as  the 


16         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Cabman.  Cleopatra.  Mistake, 

cabman  was  carrying  out  one  of  the  last  arti 
cles,  he  turned  to  Forester  and  said, 

"  What  boat  is  it,  sir,  that  you  wish  to  go 
to?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Forester,  turning  to 
Marco.  "  Marco,  he  wants  to  know  what  boat 
we  are  going  to." 

"  The  boat  ?"  said  Marco,  stopping  to  think. 
— "  O,  I'll  tell  you  in  a  moment."  So  Marco 
ran  back  to  the  office,  and  went  to  the  pillar 
where  the  notice  was  put  up.  The  cabman 
and  Forester  followed  him.  Marco  looked 
hastily  upon  the  outer  handbill,  and  his  eye 
caught  the  name  "  CLEOPATRA." 

"  The  '  Cleopatra,'  "  said  Marco. 

«  O ay,"  said  the  cabman,  "  the  Cleo 
patra." 

"  Stop  a  moment,"  said  Marco,  "  and  I  will 
see  where  she  lays." 

"  I  know  where  she  lays,"  said  the  cabman, 
— "  she  lays  at  Peck  Slip." 

Now  it  happened  that  since  Marco  had  read 
the  outer  handbill  the  evening  before,  and  found 
that  it  described  a  boat  going  to  Albany,  a  man 
had  come  in  and  hung  up  another  handbill,  ad 
vertising  a  boat  to  go  to  New  Haven,  which 
was  the  destination  of  the  Cleopatra.  Marco 


THE    WRONG    BOAT.  17 

Forester's  suspicions.  Murco.  Mystery. 

turned  away  immediately  when  the  cabman 
said  that  he  knew  where  the  boat  lay,  and  thus 
did  not  discover  his  mistake.  Forester  said 
nothing.  He  had  an  impression  that  Peck  Slip 
was  the  place  of  departure  for  the  Connecticut 
boats,  and  not  for  the  North  river  boats  ;  but  as 
there  was  a  route  to  Vermont  through  New 
Haven  and  Hartford,  which  he  thought  would 
be  nearly  as  convenient  for  them  as  any  other, 
he  concluded  to  say  nothing,  but  to  let  Marco 
manage  the  business  which  he  had  undertaken, 
in  his  own  way. 

Marco  thought,  from  the  expression  of  his 
cousin's  countenance  when  they  got  into  the 
cab,  that  there  was  something  the  matter,  or,  at 
least,  it  appeared  to  him  that  Forestti  looked  as 
if  he  had  some  secret  in  his  thoughts,  and  he 
questioned  him  about  it. 

"  You've  got  some  secret,  cousin  Forester, — 
I  know  you  have,"  said  he. 

"  Some  secret  ?"  repeated  Forester  ;  (<  what 
makes  you  suppose  so  ?" 

"  Why,  you  look  very  queer, — you've  got 
some  present  for  me,  I  expect,  from  my  mother, 
that  you  are  going  to  give  me  when  we  get 
aboard  the  boat." 

Forester  made  no  answer,  and  they  rode  on 
B 


18         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Marco  rambles  about  the  boat.  A  boy. 


in  silence.  When  they  reached  the  slip  where 
the  boat  lay,  Marco  was  very  busy  in  paying 
the  cabman,  and  in  seeing  that  the  baggage  was 
put  safely  on  board.  The  first  bell  was  rung. 
Many  persons  were  coming  and  going  over  the 
plank  which  led  from  the  pier  to  the  boat.  As 
soon  as  Marco  had  the  baggage  secured,  he 
went  up  to  the  promenade  deck,  where  he 
could  be  a  little  out  of  the  bustle,  and  took  a 
seat  with  Forester  there.  There  were  many 
ladies  and  gentlemen  standing  near,  or  seated 
on  chairs  and  settees,  under  a  large  awning.  It 
was  a  pleasant  morning,  and  Forester  anticipa 
ted  a  very  pleasant  voyage  up  the  river. 

Marco  took  his  seat  upon  a  settee,  and 
watched  the  movements  of  the  crowd  upon  the 
pier,  and  of  the  sailors  on  the  guards  of  the 
boat,  who  were  making  preparations  for  cast 
ing  off  the  lines.  There  was  seated  near  him 
a  boy  somewhat  older  than  he,  who  also  seemed 
to  be  watching  the  movements  which  were  go 
ing  on  around  him  with  great  interest.  Marco 
was  just  going  toward  him,  with  a  design  to 
enter  into  conversation  with  him,  when  a  young 
man  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  stairs,  leading 
up  from  the  deck  below,  and  beckoned  to  the 
boy  to  come  to  him,  at  the  same  time  making 


THE    WRONG   BOAT.  19 

Marco  accosts  the  boy.  No  answer. 

some  other  sign  which  he  did  not  understand. 
The  boy  immediately  rose  and  went  away. 

In  a  short  time,  however,  the  boy  returned 
and  took  his  seat  again.  Marco  had  some  hesi 
tation  about  addressing  him,  but  as  the  expres 
sion  of  the  young  stranger's  face  was  intelligent 
and  good-humored,  he  at  length  moved  gradu 
ally  toward  him,  and  said, 

"  Do  you  know  what  time  we  shall  get  to 
Albany  ?" 

The  boy  looked  at  Marco  steadily  when  he 
spoke,  with  a  pleasant  expression  of  counte 
nance,  but  instead  of  making  any  reply,  he  first 
put.  his  finger  to  his  ear,  and  then  to  his  lips,  and 
shook  his  head. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?"  said  Marco. 

The  boy  said  nothing,  but  gazed  a  moment 
longer  in  Marco's  face,  and  then  took  out  a  very 
small  slate  from  a  breast  pocket  in  his  jacket, 
and  began  to  write  upon  it.  When  he  had  fin 
ished  writing,  he  handed  the  slate  to  Marco. 
It  contained  the  words,  "  I  can  not  speak  ;  I  am 
deaf  and  dumb." 

"  O,"  said  Marco,  "  I  did  not  know  that." 
Then,  instantly  reflecting  that  it  was  vain  to 
speak  to  the  boy  if  he  could  not  hear,  Marco 
took  the  slate  from  his  hands,  and  wrote  upon  it, 


20        THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


A  correspondence.  Marco  perplexed.  His  inquiry. 

"  I  only  asked  you  if  you  knew  what  time  we 
should  get  to  Albany." 

The  boy  read  Marco's  writing  very  slowly 
and  carefully,  and  then  shook  his  head  and 
looked  perplexed.  He  then  took  the  pencil  and 
wrote,  "  I  do  not  know." 

By  the  same  mode  of  communication,  Marco 
then  asked  him  what  his  name  was.  He  wrote 
in  reply,  "  Erskine." 

"  Do  you  live  at  Albany  ?"  wrote  Marco 
next. 

Erskine  looked  at  the  question  a  moment  or 
two,  apparently  somewhat  at  a  loss,  and  then  he 
wrote, 

"  I  do  not  know  of  Albany  ;  I  shall  go  to 
Hartford." 

It  was  now  Marco's  turn  to  be  a  little  per 
plexed,  through  the  singularity  of  Ersldne's 
phraseology.  After  studying  it  a  moment,  he 
concluded  that  Erskine  meant  that  he  was  going 
to  Hartford,  and  the  idea  flashed  across  his 
mind  that  he  might  possibly  have  made  some 
mistake,  and  have  got  into  the  wrong  boat.  So 
he  turned  suddenly  to  one  of  the  hands  that  be 
longed  on  board  the  boat,  who  happened  to  be 
passing  by  just  at  that  moment,  and  asked  him 

"  Isn't  this  boat  going  to  Albany  ?" 


THE    WRONG    BOAT.  21 

Murco  alarmed.  He  finds  Forester. 

"  No,'"'  replied  the  man,  without  stopping, 
"  she  is  going  to  New  Haven." 

"  Then  we've  got  into  the  wrong  boat,"  ex 
claimed  Marco,  in  great  trepidation.  "  Where's 
cousin  Forester  ?" 

He  began  to  run  about  this  way  and  that,  in 
pursuit  of  his  cousin  Forester.  Forester  had 
disappeared.  He  went  down  stairs  to  find  him, 
and  when  he  reached  the  lower  deck,  he  found 
that  the  boat  was  just  gliding  away  from  the 
pier.  The  plank  had  been  taken  in,  and  the 
cable  by  which  she  had  been  made  fast  to  the 
pier,  had  been  cast  off,  and  the  hands  were 
drawing  it  in.  Marco  might  have  jumped 
across  to  the  pier,  but  by  so  doing  he  would 
only  have  separated  himself  from  Forester  and 
the  trunks,  which  would  have  made  matters 
worse  instead  of  better. 

Just  then  Marco  saw  his  cousin  Forester 
leaning  against  a  sort  of  pillar  which  supported 
the  upper  deck.  His  countenance  wore  a  very 
quiet  and  composed  expression.  Marco  ran  up 
to  him  and  exclaimed, 

"  Cousin  Forester,  we've  got  into  the  wrong 
boat." 

'•  I  know  it,"  said  Forester,  coolly. 


22         THE   SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Forester's  composure. 


His  reasoning. 


"  Well,  what  shall  we  do  ?"  said   Marco,  in 
the  greatest  perturbation. 


"  Don't  you  know  what  it  is  best  to  do  ?" 
asked  Forester. 

"  No,"  said  Marco,  "  I  am  sure  I  don't." 
"  Then  I  advise  you  not  to  be  in  such  a  hurry 
and  flurry,"  said  Forester.  "  The  time  to  be 
in  a  hurry,  is  when  we  know  exactly  what  to 
do,  and  have  but  a  short  time  to  do  it.  When 
we  don't  know  what  to  do,  we  ought  to  cairn 


THE     WRONG     BOAT.  23 

Various  plans.  Forester  is  amused ;  Marco  displeased. 

and  compose  ourselves,  and  take  time  to 
think." 

"  Why,  if  we  were  only  ashore,"  said  Marco, 
"  we  would  go  back,  and  find  the  right  boat  to 
go  to  Albany." 

"  But  we  are  not  on  shore,"  said  Forester, 
"  and  we  can't  get  on  shore  ;  so  that  supposition 
does  not  help  us  any." 

"  Why,  the  captain  would  put  us  back,"  said 
Marco,  "  I've  no  doubt,  if  you  would  only  ask 
him." 

"  Perhaps  he  would,"  replied  Forester,  "  but 
I'm  only  a  feeble  old  man,  you  know,  traveling 
under  your  care.  You  must  go  and  ask  him, 
if  you  want  him  to  put  us  ashore."  Here  For- 
ester  laughed  aloud,  at  the  ludicrous  predica 
ment  which  Marco  had  got  into.  As  for  Marco, 
he  tried  to  look  grave,  but  he  could  not  entirely 
suppress  a  smile  which  struggled  to  appear  upon 
his  countenance. 

"  I  don't  think  it  is  any  laughing  occasion, 
myself,"  said  Marco,  after  a  pause.  "  Besides, 
I  supposed  that  if  we  got  into  any  serious  diffi 
culty,  you  would  help  me  out  of  it." 

"  So  I  would,"  said  Forester,  "  but  I  don't 
conceive  that  you  have  got  into  any  serious 
difficulty  yet.  We  may  as  well  go  to  Vermont 


24         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Forester  speaks  of  the  armory.  Manufacturing  muskets. 

by  the  way  of  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  as  any 
other  way.  You  see  we  can  go  up  from  Hart 
ford  to  Springfield,  and  there  we  can  take  the 
railroad  to  Boston.  There  will  be  one  greal 
advantage  in  taking  this  route,  for  we  can  visit 
the  great  national  armory  at  Springfield." 

"  What  is  that  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  at  Springfield/'  said  Forester,  "  the 
government  of  the  United  States  have  a  great 
establishment  for  manufacturing  muskets  for 
the  national  troops,  and  it  is  a  very  curious  and 
interesting  place  to  visit." 

"  What  can  we  see  there  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  O,  all  the  processes  in  manufacturing  mus 
kets,"  said  Forester.  "  The  first  is  the  work  of 
the  great  trip-hammer,  which  goes  by  water, 
and  forges  out  the  iron  plates,  which  the  mus 
kets  are  made  from.  These  plates  are  bent 
round  over  a  long  iron  rod,  and  welded,  and 
thus  the  barrels  are  made.  Then  these  barrels 
are  bored  by  various  machinery,  and  the  out 
side  surfaces  turned.  Then  the  forging  and 
grinding  of  the  bayonets  is  very  interesting." 

"  I  shouldn't  think  there  would  be  any  thing 
very  interesting  in  grinding,"  said  Marco. 

"  There  is,"  said  Forester.  "  Grinding  an  axe 
on  a  hand  grind-stone  is  not  a  very  wonderful 


THE   WRONG   BOAT.  25 

Forester's  descriptions.  The  deaf  and  dumb  boy. 

process,  to  be  sure, — but  in  these  large  estab 
lishments,  where  they  grind  on  such  a  great 
scale,  the  enormous  stones,  and  the  speed  with 
which  they  revolve,  and  the  streams  of  sparks 
which  fly  out,  strike  you  with  wonder." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  I  should  like  to  see 
them." 

"  Then  there  is  a  great  deal  that  is  curious  in 
the  making  of  the  locks,"  said  Forester  ;  "  the 
forging  out  all  the  small  parts,  and  filing  and 
polishing  them,  and  then  the  putting  of  them 
together.  You  will  be  very  much  interested, 
I've  no  doubt." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  I  don't  care  much 
about  our  getting  in  to  the  wrong  boat."  So 
he  went  away  from  Forester,  intending  to  go 
up  upon  the  upper  deck  again. 

He  came  back,  however,  a  moment,  to  tell 
Forester  that  there  was  a  deaf  and  dumb  boy 
on  the  deck  above. 

"  Where  is  he  going  ?"  said  Forester. 

"  To  Hartford,"  said  Marco. 

"  Very  likely  he  is  going  to  the  asylum,"  said 
Forester. 

"  What  asylum  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  there  is  an  asylum,"  replied  Forester, 
"  in  Hartford,  where  the  deaf  and  dumb  go  from 


26         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  manual  alphabet.  Marco  learns  it. 

all  parts  of  the  country,  to  learn  to  read  and 
write." 

"  Yes/''  said  Marco,  "  he  can  write.  He  has 
a  slate." 

"  Then  I  have  no  doubt,"  said  Forester, 
"  that  he  is  a  pupil  of  the  asylum  at  Hartford. 
You  had  better  get  him  to  tell  you  about  that 
establishment,  and  ask  him  to  teach  you  the 
manual  alphabet." 

"  What  is  the  manual  alphabet  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

So  Forester  explained  to  Marco  that  the 
manual  alphabet  was  a  mode  of  representing 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet  by  the  fingers  of  the 
hand,  and  that  those  who  understood  that  al 
phabet  could  talk,  by  means  of  it,  with  the  edu 
cated  deaf  and  dumb. 

Marco  was  very  much  interested  in  this  idea, 
and  he  returned  to  the  upper  deck,  and  sat  an 
hour  with  Erskine,  learning  the  manual  alpha 
bet,  and  writing  in  dialogue  with  him,  on  his 
slate.  They  were  once  interrupted  in  their  occu 
pations,  by  a  colored  man,  who  went  about  the 
decks,  ringing  a  great  bell,  and  calling  out  to 
all  who  had  not  paid  their  fare,  to  call  at  the 
captain's  office  and  settle.  Whereupon  Marco 
left  Erskine  for  a  short  time,  while  he  went  to 


THE    WRONG    BOAT.  27 

Summons  to  pay  the  fare.  Two  tickets. 

the  window  of  the  captain's  office,  on  the  lower 
deck,  and  after  waiting  there  some  minutes 
among  the  crowd,  until  his  turn  came,  he  took 
two  tickets  for  Hartford,  one  for  himself,  and 
one  for  Forester. 


28         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Situation  of  Hartford  and  Springfield.  Great  freshet. 

CHAPTER    II. 
THE    FLOOD. 

THE  two  travelers  arrived  safely  at  New 
Haven,  where,  on  leaving  the  steamboat, 
they  entered  a  train  of  cars,  and  proceeded  im 
mediately  to  Hartford.  Hartford  is  on  the 
Connecticut  river,  and  Springfield  is  on  the 
same  river,  about  twenty-three  miles  above. 
The  travelers  expected  to  have  gone  up  the 
river  that  afternoon,  by  a  small  steamboat, 
which  Forester  told  Marco  was  accustomed  to 
ply  between  Hartford  and  Springfield, — but 
when  they  reached  Hartford,  they  were  told 
that  there  was  no  boat.  Marco  went  to  the 
bar  of  the  United  States  Hotel — the  house  to 
which  he  had  taken  Forester  on  his  arrival, — 
in  order  to  inquire  the  reason.  The  clerk  told 
him  that  there  was  a  great  freshet  on  the  river, 
and  that  the  boat  had  not  been  able  to  get 
down.  Marco  went  with  this  intelligence  to 
Forester,  who  was  reading  the  Boston  newspp 
pers  in  the  gentlemen's  parlor. 

"  I  don't  see  why  a  flood  on  the  river  should 


THE    FLOOD.  29 

Effects  of  the  freshet.  Boat  kept  back.  How. 

keep  the  steamboat  from  coming  down,"  said 
Forester. 

"  That  is  the  reason,  I  know,"  said  Marco, 
"  for  they  told  me  so  at  the  bar.  Perhaps  it  is 
because  the  water  runs  too  swiftly." 

"  That  might  prevent  the  boat  from  going 
up/'  said  Forester,  "  but  I  don't  see  how  it 
could  keep  it  from  coming  down.  I  should 
think  it  would  come  down  all  the  faster." 

"  Perhaps  the  flood  brings  down  ice  and  logs, 
so  that  the  boat  can't  get  along,"  rejoined 
Marco. 

"  I  don't  think  that  is  a  very  probable  expla 
nation,"  said  Forester.  "  It  is  much  more  likely 
that  there  is  some  mistake  in  your  informa 
tion." 

Marco  felt  a  little  piqued  at  having  his  infor 
mation  thus  called  in  question,  and  he  went  back 
to  the  bar  to  inquire  how  a  freshet  could  keep 
the  boat  from  coming  down.  They  told  him 
that  there  was  a  bridge  across  the  river,  some 
distance  above,  and  that  the  boat  could  not  get 
under  it  when  the  water  was  high.  This  seemed 
very  satisfactory,  and  Marco  went  back  with 
the  explanation  to  Forester,  who  seemed  satis 
fied  with  it  too. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  they  ar- 


30         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


The  cupola  of  the  state-house.  The  inundation. 

rived  at  Hartford,  and  although  it  was  very 
pleasant  when  they  left  New  York,  yet  the  sky 
had  become  overcast  during  the  day,  and  now 
it  began  to  rain.  Marco,  however,  was  very 
eager  to  go  out  after  dinner,  to  see  the  flood, 
and  Forester  concluded  to  go  with  him.  It  was 
so  late  when  they  arrived,  and  the  evening 
came  on  so  early,  that  it  was  not  until  just  be 
fore  dark  that  they  got  ready  to  go  out.  They 
first  went  to  the  state-house,  in  order  to  ascend 
to  the  cupola,  to  take  a  view  of  the  flood  from 
that  elevation.  The  state-house  at  Hartford  is 
in  the  midst  of  the  city,  and  a  broad  street  de 
scends  from  it  to  the  river.  Forester  and  Mar 
co  went  up  by  various  flights  of  stairs,  until,  at 
last,  they  reached  the  summit,  where  they  had 
a  grand  view  of  the  city,  and  also  of  the  river, 
which  seemed  expanded  into  a  vast  sea,  that 
spread  over  the  whole  valley, — with  groves, 
farm-houses,  orchards,  and  even  the  buildings 
of  the  city  itself  rising  out  of  the  water. 

After  looking  upon  this  scene  for  some  time, 
they  descended  again,  and  followed  the  street 
down  toward  the  bank  of  the  river.  But  long 
before  they  reached  the  bank,  they  found  the 
streets  filled  with  water.  Barrels  and  boxes 
were  floating  about,  piles  of  merchandise,  which 


THE    FLOOD.  31 


Goods  afloat.  The  coach.  Streets  overflowed. 

had  been  taken  out  of  submerged  cellars,  were 
arranged  along  on  the  sidewalks,  where  they 
were  out  of  the  reach  of  the  water,  and  men 
were  busily  at  work,  getting  other  goods  into 
places  of  safety.  By  this  time,  however,  it  be 
came  dark,  and  the  wind  and  rain  seemed  to  be 
increasing  ;  so  Forester  and  Marco  returned  to 
the  hotel,  anticipating  much  pleasure  in  taking 
a  walk  in  the  morning,  when  they  could  exam 
ine  the  effects  of  the  flood  to  better  advantage. 

They  were  called  the  next  morning  at  six 
o'clock,  and  were  told  that  the  boat  had  come, 
and  was  going  to  start  at  seven  for  Springfield. 
So  they  dressed  themselves  with  all  speed,  and 
hastened  down  to  breakfast.  They  had  hardly 
time  to  finish  their  breakfast,  when  the  coach 
was  at  the  door  to  take  them  to  the  boat.  They 
got  in,  and  after  riding  through  several  streets, 
descending  continually  toward  the  water,  Mar 
co,  who  had  his  head  out  of  the  window  all 
the  time,  looking  forward,  said, 

"  Cousin  Forester,  look  here, — the  street  is  all 
full  of  water.  We  can't  go  but  a  very  little 
farther." 

Marco  expected  that  as  soon  as  the  carriage 
had  gone  as  far  as  it  could  go  on  the  firm  pave 
ment,  it  would  stop  at  the  brink  of  the  water, 


32         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  skiff.  Marco  perplexed.  Deep  water. 

and  that  some  other  plan  would  be  adopted  for 
conveying  them  to  the  steamboat.  What  that 
plan  would  be,  he  could  not  at  first  imagine ; 
but  in  a  moment  there  suddenly  glided  into 
view  a  little  skiff,  that  came  down  the  street 
that  crossed  the  one  in  which  they  were  riding, 
at  right  angles  to  it,  at  some  distance  before 
them.  The  skiff' came  into  view  from  behind  a 
block  of  brick  buildings,  which  formed  a  corner 
of  the  street,  and  passing  across  the  street 
which  Marco  was  in,  kept  on,  and  soon  disap 
peared.  There  was  a  man  in  it,  rowing. 

"  He  ought  to  come,"  said  Marco,  "  with  his 
skiff,  and  take  us  along." 

By  this  time  the  horses  had  reached  the  brink 
of  the  water ;  but,  to  Marco's  surprise,  they  did 
not  stop,  but  advanced  slowly  into  it,  drawing 
the  coach  after  them.  The  water  grew  deeper 
and  deeper,  until,  at  length,  the  horses  were  up 
to  their  knees.  At  some  distance  before  him, 
at  the  extremity  of  the  street,  Marco  could  see 
the  end  of  the  bridge  which  led  across  the  riv 
er;  but  he  saw  no  steamboat.  However,  it 
was  some  relief  to  Marco  to  see  the  bridge,  as 
that  promised  to  be,  at  least,  the  termination  of 
their  ride  ;  for  he  did  not  at  all  like  navigating 
such  deep  water  in  a  carriage.  The  water, 


THE    FLOOD.  33 


The  embarkation.  Paddle-wheels.  The  boat. 


however,  did  not  grow  any  deeper,  and  pres 
ently,  just,  before  they  had  reached  the  bridge, 
it  began  to  grow  shallower,  and  soon  the  car 
riage  stopped  at  a  place  where  there  was  a 
small  piece  of  dry  land,  big  enough  for  them  to 
stand  upon.  Here  the  little  steamboat  came  in 
sight  too,  which  was  to  take  them  up  the  river. 
By  scrambling  along  through  a  store,  and  over 
planks,  and  along  the  edges  of  piers,  they  suc 
ceeded,  at  length,  in  getting  on  board. 

There  were  some  ladies  in  the  coach,  and 
they,  with  the  gentlemen  who  had  charge  of 
them,  when  they  had  got  on  board  of  the  boat, 
went  down  into  the  ladies'  cabin.  The  steam 
boat  was  very  small.  It  had  a  great  paddle- 
wheel  at  the  stern,  and  two  small  ones  at  the 
sides,  one  at  each  side.  "  These  last/'  Forester 
said,  "  he  supposed  must  be  to  aid  in  steering." 
The  boat  reminded  Marco  of  the  canal-boats, 
which  he  had  seen  on  Erie  canal.  It  was  simi 
lar  in  construction  to  those  boats,  though  larger. 
It  had,  like  a  canal-boat,  a  small  forecastle, 
which  was  below  the  level  of  the  main  decks, 
and  very  near  the  water.  From  this  forecastle. 
Forester  and  Marco  went  down  into  a  little 
cabin,  which  was,  of  course,  near  the  bows. 
The  ladies'  cabin  was  toward  the  stern.  In  the 


34         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


I'l  "  clelugj  of  waters.  Forester's  explanations, 

cabin,  they  were  sheltered  from  the  wind  and 
rain,  but  they  did  not  remain  there  long,  as  they 
wished  to  look  about,  and  observe  the  eii'eets  oi" 
the  flood,  and  the  strange  aspect  which  was 
given  to  the  whole  surrounding  scenery,  by  such 
a  deluge  of  waters. 

"  All  this,"  said  Forester,  "  comes  from  the 
melting  of  the  snows,  away  up  among  the 
mountains.  I  should  think  that  Hartford  might 
be  about  at  the  place  where  the  height  of  the 
waters  would  be  a  maximum." 

"  I  don't  understand  what  you  mean  by  that," 
said  Marco. 

"  Why,  you  will  see,  by  reflection,"  said  For 
ester,  "  that  up  near  the  sources  of  a  river,  there 
never  can  be  a  very  high  flood,  for  the  streams 
are  all  small,  and  they  descend  rapidly  down 
the  sides  of  the  mountains,  and  thus  the  water 
runs  oft'  fast,  making  a  torrent  rather  than  a 
flood.  These  small  streams  join  together,  and 
other  branches  come  in  from  each  side,  and  thus 
the  river  is  formed  ;  and  when  it  gels  upon 
lower  land,  where  it  is  more  level,  so  that  the 
water  can  not  run  off*  so  quick,  it  rises  higher, 
and  spreads  over  the  meadows  on  each  side. 
The  great  body  of  water  moves  on  slowly  now, 
and  is  increased  by  every  branch  which  comes 


T  HE     F  L  U  u  D.  3rt 

General  movc-muiii  oi'a  d..v.:ge  of  water. 

in  from  each  side,  until  the  height  of  the  water 
reaches  the  maximum, — that  is,  the  greatest." 

"  Why  does  it  not  keep  on  increasing  all  the 
way  to  the  sea  ?"  said  Marco. 

'•  Because."  replied  Forester,  "  when  it  gets 
within  the  influence  of  the  sea,  the  water  flows 
out  freely  into  the  sea,  and  spreads  off  over  the 
ocean.  A  flood  in  a  river  is  sometimes  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  above  the  common  level  of  the 
water ;  now  if  it  were  to  be  so  near  the  sea, 
there  would  be  a  steep  descent  from  the  river 
to  the  sea,  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  which  you 
see  could  not  be.  For  the  water,  when  it  gets 
near  the  sea,  presses  down  from  the  river  by  its 
weight,  and  spreads  out  into  the  sea  so  rapidly 
as  to  keep  the  water  down  for  many  miles  back 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Thus,  if  ar  bird 
were  to  begin  in  the  mountains,  when  a  great 
fall  of  rain  was  taking  place,  and  follow  the  flood 
down,  she  would  find  it  increasing,  and  be 
coming  higher  and  higher  as  it  advanced,  until 
it  reached  the  level  plains,  and  it  would  go  on, 
inundating  them  more  and  more,  and  spreading 
out  over  intervales  and  meadows  ;  until  at  last, 
like  a  great  wave  which  had  begun  to  spend  it 
self,  it  would  appear  not  to  rise  quite  so  high, 
though  it  would  still  keep  advancing  ;  and  thus, 


36         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

A  freshet  near  the  mouth  of  a  river. 


if  she  was  a  reasonable  bird,  she  would  know 
that  the  water  was  coming  under  the  influence 
of  the  sea.  After  this,  the  freshet  would  seem 
less  and  less  high  as  it  advanced,  until  it  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  it  would  scarcely 
produce  any  perceptible  effect  at  all." 

"  Then  there  can  not  be  any  freshet  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,"  said  Marco. 

"  No,"  replied  Forester,  "  there  can  be  none 
caused  by  floods  coming  down  the  river.  Some 
times,  however,  a  storm  at  sea,  when  the  wind 
blows  in  toward  the  shore,  raises  the  water 
several  feet,  and  makes  a  sort  of  inundation,  in 
that  way,  though  it  seldom  rises  more  than  four 
or  five  feet  above  high  tide." 

By  this  time  the  men  began  to  push  off  the 
boat  from  the  pier,  and  the  great  paddle-wheel 
at  the  stern  of  the  boat  began  to  revolve,  and 
they  swept  out  into  the  stream.  They  were 
just  above  the  great  wooden  bridge,  which 
stretches  across  the  Connecticut,  at  Hartford. 
Marco  saw  that  the  water  was  up  to  within  a 
foot  or  two  of  the  floor  of  the  bridge,  and  some 
<>f  the  men  said  that  it  was  very  fortunate  that 
there  was  no  ice  running. 

"  Why  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Because,"  replied  the  man,  "  it  would  soon 


THE    FLOOD.  37 


The  forecastle.  Marco  nearly  loses  his  umbrella. 

make  a  jam  above  the  bridge,  and  carry  it 
away." 

Marco  observed  that  the  water  was  turbid, 
and  its  surface  was  strongly  agitated  by  whirl 
pools  and  eddies.  Marco  went  forward,  and 
took  his  place  upon  the  forecastle.  The  wind 
was  north-east,  and  thus  was  almost  against 
them,  and  it  blew  the  cold  rain  into  Marco's 
face.  He  attempted  to  hoist  his  umbrella,  but 
a  sudden  gust  of  wind  caught  it  out  of  his  hands, 
and  swept  it  along  the  upper  deck.  Marco 
scrambled  up  the  steps,  and  ran  after  it.  It 
lodged,  very  fortunately,  under  the  bows  of  a 
little  skiff  which  had  been  placed  upon  the  deck 
in  order  to  be  taken  up  the  river.  If  it  had 
gone  over  into  the  water,  it  would  have  been 
irrecoverably  lost,  as  it  would  not  have  been 
worth  while  to  detain  the  boat  for  it. 

When  Marco  got  his  umbrella,  he  went  back 
to  his  station  again,  but  when  he  opened  it  this 
time,  he  was  careful  to  hold  it  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  wind  could  not  get  under  it  again.  He 
then  peeped  out  from  beneath  it.  to  survey  the 
wide  waste  of  waters,  which  extended  as  far  as 
he  could  see,  on  either  hand.  The  ordinary 
course  of  the  river  itself  was  entirely  undistin- 
guishable,  and  instead  of  it,  there  was  a  broad 


.'ty  T  H  E     S  P  R  I  X  <"i  F  I  E  L  D     A  11  M  Oil  V. 

Melancholy  spectacle.  Whole  country  under  we,te>j. 

sea  of  turbid  water,  agitated  by  the  wind  and 
by  whirling  eddies,  and  spreading  over  fields, 
farms,  villages,  orchards, — extending,  at  the 
extremity  of  the  view,  far  in,  under  the  trees  of 
the  forests. 

It  was  a  melancholy  sight  to  see  the  farm 
houses,  some  with  the  water  up  above  the  floor 
or  even  to  the  windows  ;  and  others  standing 
on-  a  little  spot  of  ground,  which  the  water 
seemed  just  ready  to  cover,  with  the  family  at 
the  door,  gazing  at  the  unexpected  spectacle  of 
a  steamboat  going  across  their  mowing-fields  ; 
for  the  water  being  deep  enough  everywhere, 
the  boat  was  not  required  to  confine  itself  to  the 
ordinary  channel  of  the  river,  but  made  a  straight 
course,  over  fields,  fences,  yards,  and  gardens. 
Once  or  twice,  Marco  perceived  that  they  were 
flroing  through  an  orchard.  The  tops  of  the 
apple-trees  were  about  half  out  of  the  water. 
Marco  thought  that  if  it  were  only  the  right 
season,  they  could  get  some  apples  ;  but,  as  it 
was,  the  trees  were  leafless  and  bare.  At  some 
of  the  farm-houses,  men  were  busy,  securing 
their  goods  and  furniture  ;  at  others,  they  were 
gliding  about  in  skiffs  ;  and  in  one  case,  Marco 
saw  a  man  and  his  boy  going  out  to  the  barn, 


T  il  E      FLO  O  D. 


The  raft  made  of  barn  doors. 


Rapids. 


to  take  care  of  the  cattle,  on  a  raft  made  of  the 
barn  doors. 


About  half-way  between  Hartford  and  Spring- 
field  there  is  a  fall,  or  rather  a  rapid,  through 
which  boats  can  not  go  either  up  or  down. 
They  can  not  go  up,  because,  even  when  the 
water  is  deep  enough,  they  can  not  stem  the 
current ;  and  they  can  not  come  down,  because 
the  current  would  sweep  them  along  too  swiftly, 
and  dash  them  against  the  rocks  on  the  shore. 


40        THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

A  village  under  water. 

A  canal  had  accordingly  been  made  around  this 
fall,  in  order  to  take  the  boats  up,  or  let  them 
gently  down,  by  means  of  locks,  in  the  manner 
explained  in  "  Marco  Paul  on  the  Erie  Canal.*' 
This  canal  was,  however,  now  submerged,  and 
the  steamboat  had  to  stop  below  it,  at  a  little 
village  called  the  Point,  from  whence  the  pas 
sengers  were  to  be  taken  the  rest  of  the  way  by 
stage.  When  they  arrived  at  this  village,  the 
ooat  sailed  along  in  front  of  the  principal  street, 
and  then  turned  into  another  at  right  angles  to 
it,  in  which  the  tavern  was  situated.  The 
helmsman  brought  the  boat  up  to  the  piazza  of 
the  hotel,  as  if  it  were  a  wharf.  The  passen 
gers  stepped  out  upon  the  piazza.  It  was  cov 
ered  with  people  of  the  village,  who  had  col 
lected  there,  to  witness  the  spectacle  of  a 
steamboat  corning  up  to  a  tavern  door. 

The  tavern  was  entirely  surrounded  by  water, 
and  from  the  piazza,  there  was  a  view  of  a  large 
part  of  the  village,  with  the  streets,  yards,  and 
gardens  entirely  submerged.  Barrels,  boxes, 
and  planks  were  floating  about.  The  people 
that  had  assembled  stood  upon  the  steps  of  the 
platform,  observing  the  scene.  First,  a  wheel 
barrow  came  slowly  drifting  into  the  tavern 
yard  ;  then  a  boy  on  a  raft  made  of  two  planks. 


T  ii  E    FLO  o 


41 


Various  spectacles. 


Then  a  little  boat  glided  by,  full  of  children, 
going  home  from  school.  There  was  a  bridge, 
made  of  a  line  of  planks,  leading  across  from 
the  platform  to  the  land  behind  the  tavern. 
The  ends  of  the  planks  were  supported  by 
horseblocks,  for  piers.  Marco  ran  back  and 
forth  across  this  bridge  several  times,  until,  at 
length,  the  stage 
coaches  which 
were  to  take  the 
travelers  to  Spring 
field  were  ready. 
These  stage  coach 
es  were  backed 
down  through  theEj 
water,  to  the  steps  * 
of  the  piazza,  and 
the  baggage  was 
put  on.  The  stages 
were  then  driven 
out  to  dry  land, — 

the  passengers  went,  one  by  one,  over  tne  long 
plank  bridge,  took  their  seats,  and  thus  they  all 
proceeded  to  Springfield. 


STAGE  IX   'I 


42         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Arrival  at  Springfield.  Buildings  of  the  armory. 

CHAPTER    III. 
THE    WATER    SHOPS. 

ON  the  morning  after  Forester  and  Marco 
arrived  at  Springfield,  they  sallied  forth 
from  their  hotel,  to  see  the  works  of  the  armory. 
The  village  of  Springfield  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  villages  of  New  England.  The  busi 
ness  part  of  it  lays  along  the  bank  of  the  Con 
necticut,  on  a  sort  of  plain  ;  and  from  this  plain 
streets  ascend  to  a  tract  of  more  elevated  land 
behind  it,  which  is  covered  in  every  direction 
with  handsome  villas  overlooking  the  village 
and  the  river,  and  the  broad  and  beautiful  val 
ley  of  the  Connecticut. 

The  principal  buildings  of  the  armory  are 
situated  upon  another  plain,  which  extends  back 
from  this  elevated  land,  at  the  distance  of  per 
haps  half  a  mile  from  the  river.  The  buildings 
are  very  large  and  handsome,  and  are  arranged 
around  the  sides  of  a  spacious  square,  which  is 
ornamented  with  walks  and  rows  of  trees. 
Marco  thought  that  the  whole  looked  like  a  col 
lege.  There  was  one  edifice  in  the  center  of 


THE    WATER    SHOPS.  43 

Residences.  Water  shops. 

the  principal  front  of  the  square,  which  had  a 
cupola  upon  it,  as  if  it  were  a  chapel.  Forester 
told  Marco  that  that  was  the  office  and  count 
ing-house.  The  other  buildings  were  shops  and 
storehouses, — though  Marco  thought  that  they 
were  very  splendid  buildings  to  be  used  for  such 
purposes.  On  one  side  was  a  long  row  of 
houses,  which  were  used  for  the  residences 
of  officers  and  others  connected  with  the  ar 
mory.  From  this  central  square,  streets  di 
verged  in  every  direction  over  the  plain.  These 
streets  were  bordered  with  smal],  but  very  neat 
and  pleasant  houses  built  for  the  workmen. 
The  houses  were  ornamented  with  trees  and 
shrubbery,  and  surrounded  with  pleasant  yards 
and  gardens.  The  whole  scene  presented,  on 
every  side,  a  very  pleasant  prospect  to  the 
view. 

After  looking  at  it  for  some  time,  Marco  pro 
posed  going  into  some  of  the  buildings,  but 
Forester  said  that  he  thought  it  would  be  better 
to  go  first  to  the  water  shops. 

"  What  are  the  water  shops  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  you  must  understand,"  said  Forester, 
"  that  in  making  a  musket,  there  is  a  great  deal 
of  light  work  to  be  done,  and  also  a  great  deal 
of  heavv  work,  and  this  last  can  be  done  best 


44        THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


The  mill  stream.  Forging  the  barrels. 

by  the  help  of  machinery.  Now  there  is  a  little 
stream,  south  of  Springfield,  which  runs  into 
the  Connecticut,  just  below  the  town.  So  they 
have  built  three  dams  across  this  stream,  and 
built  shops  near  the  dams,  with  water-wheels 
under  them  to  be  carried  by  the  water.  Here 
they  do  all  the  rough  and  heavy  work  which  is 
required." 

"  What  is  the  rough  and  heavy  work  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"Forging  the  barrels  is  one  thing,"  said  For 
ester  ;  "  that  is  very  heavy  work." 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  can  forge  the  barrels," 
said  Marco.  "  They  couldn't  make  them  round, 
nor  hollow  ;  if  they  were  to  strike  upon  them 
when  they  are  hot,  it  would  flatten  them  in. 
So  I  think  they  must  make  them  in  some  other 
way." 

"No,"  said  Forester  ;  "  they  forge  them  with 
heavy  trip-hammers,  as  you  will  see.  They 
have  peculiar  contrivances  to  keep  them  hol 
low,  and  to  make  them  round." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  and  what  other  heavy 
work  is  there  ?" 

"  The  grinding  and  polishing  is  heavy  work/' 
said  Forester. 

"  The  grinding,"  said  Marco,  "  but  not  the 


THE    WATER    SHOPS.  45 

The  wheels.  Rapid  revolutions.  Milling. 

polishing.  The  polishing  must  be  very  nice 
work." 

"  It  may  be  nice  work,  but  still  it  requires 
heavy  machinery  to  do  it,"  rejoined  Forester. 
"  For  polishing  is  done  by  means  of  wheels, 
which  are  made  to  revolve  with  prodigious  ve 
locity,  and  then  the  things  to  be  polished  are 
held  against  the  circumference  of  them.  Now 
it  is  not  heavy  work  to  hold  the  article  against 
the  wheel,  but  to  make  the  wheel  revolve  so 
very  rapidly,  requires  heavy  power  in  the  ma 
chinery." 

"  How  fast  do  the  wheels  revolve  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Forester,  "  we  can  ask 
the  workmen,  when  we  come  to  the  polishing 
rooms.  At  any  rate,  it  is  a  great  many  times 
in  a  second,  and  it  requires  a  water  power  and 
machinery,  to  turn  wheels  so  fast.  Then  there 
is  the  boring,  and  the  turning,  and"  the  milling." 

"  What  is  the  milling  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  in  some  cases,"  said  Forester,  "  in 
stead  of  finishing  the  work  with  files,  they  cut 
it  down  to  its  proper  form  by  wheels  of  steel, 
with  teeth  like  those  of  a  file,  cut  upon  them. 
These  wheels  are  made  to  revolve  very  swiftly, 
and  the  iron  or  brass  is  made  to  bear  against 


40         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Finishing.  Marco  and  Forester  cross  the  plain. 

them,  and  also  to  move  along  at  the  same  time, 
and  so  it  is  cut  down  to  the  exact  shape  re 
quired." 

"  Why  don't  they  hammer  it  into  the  right 
shape  in  the  first  place  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  They  can't  hammer  it  into  precisely  the 
right  shape,"  said  Forester  ;  "  and,  besides,  the 
surface  which  is  left  by  the  hammer  is  not  per 
fectly  sound.  There  are  small  flaws  and  scales 
in  it,  so  that  the  metal  must  be  cut  away  a  little, 
to  come  down  to  where  it  is  sound.  So  they 
forge  it  to  pretty  nearly  the  proper  shape,  leav 
ing  it  a  little  too  large,  and  then  mill  it  clown  to 
the  precise  form,  or  else  file  it,  if  the  shape  is  so 
irregular  that  it  can't  be  milled." 

While  Forester  and  Marco  had  been  engaged 

o    o 

in  this  conversation,  they  had  been  slowly  walk 
ing  along  in  the  direction  which  Forester  said 
led  to  the  water  shops.  The  road  which  they 
took  was  straight,  and  it  traversed  the  plain, 
which  has  already  been  spoken  of,  in  a  southerly 
direction.  It  was  bordered,  for  a  part  of  the 
way,  with  the  neat  and  pleasant-looking  houses 
of  the  armory  workmen,  and  beyond  these  there 
were  extensive  fields,  traversed  by  various  roads, 
the  view  being  terminated  in  the  distance  by 
occasional  glimpses  of  the  great  valley  of  the 


THE    WATER    SHOPS.  47 


Mt.  Holyoke.  Valley  of  the  Connecticut.  Ascending. 


Connecticut,  with  the  mountains  beyond.  There 
was  one  round  summit  off  at  the  north,  which 
Forester  told  Marco  was  the  famous  Mount 
Holyoke,  near  Northampton. 

"  What  is  it  famed  for  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  For  the  prospect  which  you  can  have  from 
the  top  of  it,"  said  Forester.  "  The  mountain 
is  close  to  the  Connecticut  river,  and  rises  ab 
ruptly  from  the  valley,  so  that,  from  the  sum 
mit,  you  look  down  upon  one  of  the  most  rich, 
and  verdant,  and  populous  regions  of  the  land, 
covered  with  farms,  fields,  villages,  and  verdant 
meadows,  and  with  the  Connecticut  winding 
beautifully  through  the  whole.  It  is  very  dif 
ferent  from  most  mountains  in  this  respect." 

"  Why,  how  is  it  with  other  mountains  ?" 
asked  Marco. 

"  They  are  surrounded  generally,"  said  For 
ester,  "by  lower  mountains  and  hills,  or,  at 
least,  they  rise  out  of  a  rough  or  mountainous 
country  ;  so  that  the  transition  is  gradual  from 
the  level  a-nd  fertile  land  to  the  high  elevations. 
But  Mt.  Holyoke  rises  abruptly  from  the  midst 
of  one  of  the  richest  scenes  in  the  land  ;  you 
can  ride  in  your  carriage  so  near  to  it  that  the 
remaining  ascent  is  only  going  up  stairs." 

"  Have  they  really  got  stairs  ?"  said  Marco. 


48        THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Descent  into  the  valley. 

"  Yes/'  replied  Forester ;  "  a  kind  of  rude 
stairs,  made  of  stones  or  of  logs,  placed  across 
the  way." 

"  I  should  like  very  much  to  go  to  Mt.  Holy- 
oke,"  said  Marco.  "  I  have  a  great  mind  to 
go  that  way." 

"  It  is  not  the  right  season  of  the  year,"  said 
Forester,  "  to  enjoy  the  excursion.  We  want 
the  month  of  June." 

By  this  time  they  had  arrived  at  the  end  of 
the  plain,  and  they  began  to  descend,  by  a  wind 
ing  road,  into  the  valley  where  the  water  shops 
were  situated.  It  was  a  beautiful  glen,  shaded 
by  trees,  with  the  mill  stream  flowing  through 
the  center  of  it.  There  was  a  road,  leading  up 
and  down  the  valley,  on  each  side  of  the  stream, 
and,  at  the  point  where  they  came  to  it,  there 
was  a  bridge  across  it,  connecting  one  of  these 
roads  with  the  other. 

Above  the  bridge  was  a  dam  of  handsome 
mason  work,  with  various  flumes  for  conveying 
the  water.  There  were  also  some  large  and 
handsome  shops,  on  each  side  of  the  stream, 
with  torrents  of  water  pouring  out  from  be 
neath  them,  indicating  that  they  contained  ma 
chinery  which  was  carried  by  water.  Marco 
was  much  pleased  with  the  view. 


T  [J  K      \V  A  T  EK     Sit  Ol'ri. 


49 


' 


THE  TVATT.P.,  SHOPS. 


Forester  told  Marco  that  there  were  three 
water  shops  on  the  stream,  about  half  a  mile 
apart,  and  that  this  was  the  middle  one. 

;'  I  shouldn't  think  that  they  would  wish  to 
have  them  so  far  apart,"  said  Marco. 

"  It  is  probably  on  account  of  the  stream," 
said  Forester.  "  They  have  to  put  their  shops 
where  they  can  get  a  good  fall  of  water,  and  it 
happens,  I  suppose,  that  the  falls  on  this  stream 
are  at  that  distance  from  each  other.  They 


50          THE    SPRING  r  1 1<:  L  u    A  it  vi  u  i;  v. 

Minimum  power.  Forester's  illustration. 

build  a  dam  on  each  fall,  and  construct  works 
to  employ  the  whole  power  that  they  obtain 
there, — that  is,  the  whole  minimam  power/' 

"What  is  the  minimum  power?"  asked 
Forester. 

"  All  the  power  which  they  can  have  con 
stantly  in  use,  all  the  year  round,"  replied  For 
ester.  "  A  stream  of  water  is  not  constant,  you 
know.  After  rains,  it  is  much  greater  than  af 
ter  a  drought.  Now  suppose  there  was  a  brook 
with  water  enough,  in  midsummer,  to  turn  a 
large  grindstone,  and  no  more ;  of  course,  the 
brook  could  turn  that  grindstone  all  the  year, 
and  that  would  be  all  it  could  do,  unless  there 
was  a  basin  above  the  dam,  which  would  retain 
the  water  after  a  rain,  and  deliver  it  out  after 
ward,  in  drought,  so  as  to  give  a  greater  power 
than  the  stream  alone  would  give.  Perhaps,  in 
this  way,  with  the  help  of  a  reservoir  of  water, 
the  brook  would  carry  two  such  grindstones  all 
the  year  round.  This  would,  then,  be  its  min 
imum  power.  But  for  onehalf  the  year,  that 
is,  all  through  the  spring  and  fall  months,  there 
would  probably  be  twice  as  much  water  ;  so 
that,  during  that  time,  it  would  carry  four  grind 
stones.  Thus,  when  people  speak  of  the  mini 
mum  power  of  a  stream  being  all  employed, 


T  H  K      W  A  T  E  R      SlfOP  S.  5 1 

S;i\v-miils.  Marco's  ideas. 

they  mean  all  the  power  which  it  can  exert, 
steadily  and  constantly,  all  the  year  round. 
Then,  above  that,  there  is  a  considerable  power 
which  may  be  used  at  certain  seasons,  if  it  is 
worth  while  to  construct  the  machinery  to  em 
ploy  it." 

"  And  is  it  worth  while,  generally  ?"  said 
Marco. 

"Yes, "said  Forester,  "though  that  depends 
somewhat  on  the  nature  of  the  business.  For 
instance,  in  saw-mills,  they  can  run  one  saw 
during  the  summer  months,  using  the  minimum 
power  ;  and  then,  when  the  stream  swells,  in 
the  spring  and  fall,  they  can  set  more  saws  a- 
going.  thus  employing  the  surplus  power.  Still 
it  is  a  disadvantage  to  have  a  great  surplus  pow 
er.  It  is  much  better  to  have  the  stream  steady 
all  the  year  round." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  that  is  plain  enough." 

"True,"  replied  Forester,  "  but  all  the  rea 
sons  for  it  are  not  very  plain." 

"  Why,  they  can  keep  their  works  a-going 
all  the  time,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes  ;  but  why  wouldn't  it  do  as  well,"  said 
Forester.  "  to  keep  twice  as  many  works  going 
half  the  time  ?" 


52  T  II  K     S  P  KING  F  I  K  L  L)     A  R  M  O  (<  V, 


Forester's  reasoning.  Drought.  Torrents. 

"  Why ,  I  don't  know,"  said  Marco,  hes 
itatingly. 

"  Because,"  replied  Forester,  "  it  would  take 
twice  as  great  an  investment  of  money  to  con 
struct  the  works.  Two  saws,  running  six 
months  each,  would  saw  as  many  logs  as  one 
running  a  year  ;  but  then  it  would  cost  twice 
as  much  to  put  them  up — with  all  the  necessa 
ry  machinery  ;  and  then  it  would  take  twice  as 
many  men  to  work  them,  and  these  men  would 
have  to  be  dismissed  for  six  months  in  the  year, 
and  go  away,  and  seek  other  employments. 
This  would  be  inconvenient,  and  attended  with 
increased  expense. 

"  There  is  a  very  great  difference  in  different 
streams,"  continued  Forester,  "in  respect  to 
their  steadiness.  Some  streams  are  pretty 
nearly  the  same  all  the  year.  They  are  not 
much  increased  by  rains,  or  diminished  by 
droughts.  Others  are  very  small  in  mid 
summer,  and  then,  in  the  spring,  or  after  long 
rains,  they  are  torrents,  capable  of  carrying  ten, 
or  even  a  hundred  times  as  much  machinery  as 
their  minimum  power  would  carry.  Though  it 
sometimes  happens  that,  in  such  streams,  the 
water-wheels,  which  must  be  adapted  in  their 
construction  and  position  to  the  ordinary  flow 


THE    WATER    SHOPS.  53 


Freshets.  Sources  of  streams.  Pouds. 

of  the  water,  are  all  submerged  and  over 
whelmed  when  the  water  is  very  high,  and  so 
stopped  entirely  ;  or  the  dams  are  undermined, 
or  torn  up,  and  the  mills  themselves  carried 
away." 

"  I  don't  see  why  there  should  be  any  such 
difference  in  the  streams,"  said  Marco ;  "  I 
should  think  they  would  all  have  freshets  after 
the  rains." 

'•  There  is  a  vast  difference,"  said  Forester. 
"  It  depends  upon  the  source  of  the  water  which 
supplies  the  stream.  There  are  three  kinds  of 
streams,  in  respect  to  the  source  of  their  waters; 
or,  rather,  there  are  three  different  sources  from 
which  the  water  of  brooks  and  streams  is  sup 
plied, — ponds,  springs,  and  rain.  A  brook  may 
flow  out  of  a  pond,  or  it  may  arise  from  springs, 
or  it  may  proceed  from  rains,  which  fall  upon  a 
valley,  and  run  down  through  the  lowest  part  of 
it.  Now  a  stream  that  comes  from  a  pond  does 
not  rise  and  fall  very  much,  because  the  pond 
keeps,  at  almost  all  times,  near  the  same  level. 
The  water  which  falls  upon  it,  in  rain,  spreads 
over  so  great  a  surface,  that  it  does  not  raise  it 
more  than  a  few  inches,  generally,  and,  of 
course,  the  stream  flowing  from  it  rises  only  in 
proportion.  It  is  <o  with  streams  which  come 


M         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  valley. 


from  springs,  or  great  swamps,  which  are  full 
of  springs.  But  where  a  stream  comes  from  a 
great  valley,  extending  many  miles,  so  as  to 
catch  and  drain  off  all  the  water  which  falls  on 
the  valley,  you  see  it  must  necessarily  become 
a  furious  torrent  in  the  spring,  when  the  snow 
is  melting  over  the  whole  valley,  or  after  a  pow 
erful  rain.  It  is  the  same  with  streams  that 
descend  in  ravines  and  glens  down  the  declivi 
ties  of  the  mountains." 

."  Yes,"  said  Marco.     "  I  never  thought  of 
that  difference  in  the  brooks  before." 

While  this  conversation  had  been  going  for 
ward,  Marco  and  Forester  had  come  down  into 
the  valley,  arid  had  been  walking  up  and  down 
under  rows  of  trees,  which  had  been  planted  on 
the  banks  of  the  stream,  admiring  the  beauty  of 
the  prospect.  They  now  turned  their  steps  to 
ward  one  of  the  great  shops,  where  they  heard 
a  loud  sound,  as  of  heavy  machinery  in  motion, 
and  Forester  opening  the  door,  they  both  went 
in. 


FORGING.  55 

Forges.  Arrangement  of  the  machinery. 


CHAPTER    IV, 
FORGING. 

THE  room  which  Forester  and  Marco  had 
entered  was  a  very  large  apartment  on 
the  ground  floor,  and  not  well  lighted,  except  by 
the  blazing  fires  of  the  forges.  There  were 
rows  of  forges  extending  through  the  whole 
length  of  the  room,  all  glowing  with  the  intense 
heat  of  anthracite  fires,  urged  by  bellows  which 
were  carried  by  water.  Connected  with  each 
forge  was  a  great  trip-hammer.  A  trip-hammer 
is  an  enormous  hammer,  worked  by  water.  The 
handle  is  a  beam  of  wood,  perhaps  ten  feet  long. 
This  handle  moves  on  an  axle  near  the  end  of 
it.  The  end  of  the  handle  projects  a  short  dis 
tance  beyond  the  axle  on  which  it  turns,  and  is 
armed  at  the  extremity  with  iron,  and  beyond 
it  is  a  wheel  with  projecting  cogs  or  pins  of 
iron,  which  strike  against  the  end  of  the  handle, 
as  the  wheel  turns  round,  and  drive  it  down, 
and  this  makes  the  head  of  the  hammer  rise  up. 
Then,  when  the  cog  in  the  wheel,  which  had 
struck  against  the  end  of  the  handle,  slips  by,  it 


56         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Cogs.  Trip-hammers. 


lets  the  end  of  the  handle  up,  and  the  head  of 
the  hammer  of  course  falls  down  upon  the  an 
vil,  or  rather  upon  the  work  placed  upon  the 
anvil  to  be  forged. 

There  is  one  thing  more,  which  it  is  very  im 
portant  to  observe,  in  respect  to  the  operation 
of  the  trip-hammer,  and  that  is,  that  when  the 
wheel  containing  the  cogs,  revolves  fast,  it 
throws  the  hammer  up  so  violently  as  to  spring 
the  beam  of  wood  which  forms  the  handle,  and 
the  head  is  then  brought  back  again  to  the  an 
vil,  by  the  elastic  return  of  the  handle  to  its 
position,  with  great  force.  Persons  that  do  not 
understand  the  operation  of  the  trip-hammer, 
are  often  surprised  to  see  the  head  of  it  not  so 
large,  in  proportion  to  the  other  parts,  as  they 
had  expected  to  see  it.  They  think  that  if  the 
head  w,ere  heavier  it  would  descend  with  more 
force,  and  do  more  work.  This  would  be  the 
case,  no  doubt,  if  it  were  by  the  simple  weight 
of  the  head  that  the  work  was  done.  But  it  is 
riot.  It  is  by  the  elastic  force  of  the  handle, 
which  brings  down  the  head  to  the  anvil  with 
great  power,  after  being  violently  thrown  up  by 
the  cog  behind,  just  as  the  effect  of  the  common 
hand  hammer,  in  a  blacksmith's  shop,  is  due  not 
so  much  to  the  weight  of  the  iron  in  the  head 


PURGING.  57 

Operation  oi'  tiio  machinery.  Red-hot  gun-barrel. 

of  the  hammer,   as  to  the  force  of  the   arm 
which  wields  it. 

Each  of  the  trip-hammers,  connected  with 
the  forges,  were  so  connected  with  machinery, 
that  they  could  be  made  to  go  very  swiftly,  or 
be  entirely  stopped.  While  the  iron  to  be  forged 
was  in  the  furnace,  heating,  the  trip-hammer 
remained  at  rest,  but  when  the  men  wanted  to 
use  it,  they  could  set  it  in  motion,  fast  or  slow, 
according  to  the  work  which  they  wished  to  do. 
Now  when  Marco  and  Forester  came  into  the 
building,  the  workmen  at  some  of  the  forges 
were  heating  the  irons ;  at  others,  they  were 
hammering  quickly,  and  at  others  slowly  ;  and 
every  moment  Marco  observed  a  long,  red-hot 
gun-barrel,  drawn  out  of  a  furnace,  and  pushed 
under  a  trip-hammer,  and  then,  by  some  move 
ment  of  the  workmen,  the  hammer  would  sud 
denly  begin  its  blows,  with  the  greatest  rapidity 
and  force,  throwing  the  sparks  about  in  every 
direction,  and  filling  the  whole  place  with  a 
deafening  din.  Then,  after  a  few  minutes-,  by 
some  other  movement  of  the  workmen,  the 
hammer  would  be  made  to  cease  its  rapid 
movements,  and  to  strike  more  slowly.  Pres 
ently,  it  would  cease  altogether,  and  the  iron 
would  then  be  drawn  out  from  under  it,  and  put 


58 


T  HE     S  I'  R  I  N  G  F  I  E  L  D     A  R  .M  O  R  V. 


Noise  of  the  (rip-hammers. 


back  into  the  fire  to  be  heated  again.  Every 
time  one  of  the  trip-hammers  was  thus  set  in 
motion,  it  produced  a  rapid  succession  of  loud 
reports,  like  a  discharge  of  musketry  ;  and  these 
volleys  of  sound  were  continually  breaking  out 
over  the  great  apartment,  as  the  men  happened 
to  get  the  barrels  heated  at  the  several  forges. 

After  standing  a  few  minutes,  and  looking  at 
the  general  scene,  Forester  and  Marco  drew  up 
to  one  of  the  forges,  to  examine  the  process  in 
detail. 


'iHE   FOUGrJ.M 


FORGING.  59 

Observations.  The  anvils.  Talking  loud. 

They  found  that  the  barrels  were  made  of 
flat  bars  of  iron,  bent  over  lengthwise  around  a 
rod,  which  kept  them  hollow.  When  one  of 
these  bars  had  been  thus  bent,  so  that  the  two 
edges  would  lap  over  each  other,  it  was  put  into 
the  furnace,  and  heated  very  hot,  and  when  all 
ready,  it  was  drawn  suddenly  out,  and  slipped 
under  the  trip-hammer.  The  anvil  had  a  groove 
in  it  of  a  cylindrical  form,  and  the  hammer  had 
another  one  corresponding  to  it,  so  that  it  a 
finished  barrel  were  placed  between  them,  it 
would  just  fit  into  the  space  -left  by  the  two 
grooves  when  the  head  of  the  hammer  and  the 
anvil  came  together. 

There  was  such  a  continual  succession  of 
loud  sounds  made  by  the  trip-hammers  all 
around  them,  that  Forester  had  to  put  his  mouth 
close  to  Marco's  ear,  and  talk  very  loud,  in 
order  to  be  heard.  Speaking  in  this  manner, 
he  said, 

"  Now  you  see,  Marco,  how  they  avoid  the 
two  difficulties  which  you  apprehended.  They 
keep  the  barrel  hollow,  by  having  a  rod  inside, 
and  they  keep  the  outside  round,  by  having  a 
crroove  in  the  anvil  and  in  the  hammer." 

O 

••  Yes,''  said  Marco,  ;<  I  see.  I  did  not  think 
of  those  plans.'' 


00         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Process  of  forging  a  barrel. 


Just  then,  one  of  the  men  at  the  forge  nearest 
them,  was  drawing  out  a  barrel  from  the  fur 
nace,  which  was  of  a  very  intense  heat.  It  was 
almost  white.  Forester  called  Marco  to  stand 
back  a  little,  lest  the  sparks  should  fly  upon  his 
clothes. 

The  man  pushed  the  barrel  back  again,  to 
heat  it  hotter  still.  It  was,  however,  only  the 
half  which  was  in  the  furnace,  which  was  hot. 
The  other  end  the  man  kept  cool,  by  wetting  it 
constantly  with  cold  water.  He  wished  to  keep 
that  end  cool,  in  order  that  he  might  take  hold 
of  it,  without  burning  himself.  The  end  which 
was  hot  was  the  biggest  end  of  the  barrel.  In 
a  moment  more,  he  drew  the  barrel  out  again, 
and  then  struck  it  down  upon  an  iron  plate  upon 
the  floor,  with  great  force,  two  or  three  times, 
to  square  the  end.  He  then  run  it  under  the 
trip-hammer,  slipping  the  rod  into  it  at  the  same 
time.  The  rod  thus  entering  into  the  hollow  of 
the  barrel,  kept  the  hammer  from  closing  up  the 
bore.  There  was  a  sort  of  pole  hanging  down 
as  a  handle  from  one  part  of  the  frame  of  the 
trip-hammer,  and  another  man  was  standing 
near  it.  When  the  hot  bar  was  in  its  place 
under  the  hammer,  this  man  pulled  down  the 
pole,  and  immediately  the  trip-hammer  began 


I'1  o  it  (i  I  \T  ('..  01 

Command  of  the  trip-hammer.  Working  of  it. 

its  blows  upon  the  iron,  while  the  workman  who 
held  it  turned  it  round  and  round  continually, 
that  it  might  be  struck  successively  on  all  sides. 
Thus  he  worked  the  iron  into  a  very  round  and 
smooth  form,  and  then  the  pole  was  pushed  up, 
and  the  trip-hammer  stopped.  As  the  other  end 
of  the  barrel  had  been  served  in  the  same  man 
ner  before,  the  whole  was  now  finished,  and  the 
man  put  it  upon  a  rack,  with  a  great  many 
others  which  had  been  made  before. 

By  this  time  there  was  another  barrel  ready 
at  the  next  forge,  which  was  in  a  different  stage 
of  its  progress,  from  the  one  last  described. 
One  half  of  it  had  been  nearly  finished,  but  at 
the  other  end  the  edges  of  the  barrel  had  not 

o 

oeen  welded  together.  They  had  been  brought 
round  over  the  rod,  but  had  not  been  joined. 
Marco  looked  on  while  the  workman  heated  the 
unfinished  end  and  then  placed  it  under  the 
hammer.  The  heavy  blows  soon  brought  the 
edges  together,  and  joined  them  around  the  rod, 
so  as  to  give  the  work  the  form  of  a  gun-barrel 
throughout.  Marco  saw  that  when  the  work 
man  wanted  the  hammer  to  strike  slowly,  he 
could  regulate  its  motion,  in  some  way,  by  put 
ting  his  foot  upon  a  projecting  bar  of  wood,  close 


T  H  i:    S  [>  i;  i  x  c  r  i  i:  i.  u    A  n  AT  <  >  u  v. 

View  of  the  strouni. 


to  the  floor,  upon  one  side  of  the  anvil ;  or,  if 
he  wished,  he  could  stop  it  entirely. 

After  this,  Forester  and  Marco  sauntered 
slowly  through  the  room,  looking  at  the  various 
forges.  There  were  great  heaps  of  coal  near 
them,  and  men  were  wheeling  in  fresh  supplies 
over  the  stone  floor.  There  were  troughs  of 
water  at  each  forge,  with  a  little  stream  from 
the  mouth  of  a  lead  pipe  running  into  each, 
which  kept  them  constantly  full.  The  fires  in 
the  forges  were  very  hot,  being  kept  up  by  a 
steady  blast  of  wind  from  some  unseen  bellows. 
After  spending  as  much  time  as  they  wished  in 
this  building,  Forester  and  Marco  came  out,  and 
went  across  the  stream  by  a  bridge.  They 
stopped  upon  the  bridge,  and  looked  over  into 
the  stream.  The  water  was  pouring  along,  in 
a  tumultuous  manner,  between  the  walls  of 
masonry  which  formed  the  buildings  or  the 
banks  on  each  side. 

"  Now,"  here  is  a  stream,"  said  Forester, 
which  I  should  think  was  pretty  uniform  and 
steady." 

"  Why,"  said  Marco,  "  how  can  you  tell  ?" 
"  I  can  tell  by  the  looks  of  the  water." 
"  It  seems  to  me  very  strange,"  said  Marco, 
"that  vou  can  tell  by  the  looks  of  the  water  in 


FORG  ING.  63 


Discussion  between  Marco  and  Forester. 


a  brook,  whether  it  comes  from  a  pond,  or 
springs,  or  a  great  valley." 

"  I  could  not  tell,"  rejoined  Forester,  "  except 
at  such  a  time  as  this,  that  is,  just  after  a  fresh 
et  in  every  stream  capable  of  a  freshet.  Now, 
look  for  yourself  into  this  water,"  continued 
Forester,  "  and  see  if  you  observe  any  differ 
ence  between  -this  and  the  water  of  the  Con 
necticut." 

"  Only  that  the  water  of  the  Connecticut  is 
muddy  now,"  said  Marco. 

"  And  how  is  this  ?"  said  Forester. 

"  This  is  clear,"  said  Marco  ;  "  only  it  is  of 
a  dark  color." 

« Very  well, — and  what  do  you  suppose  is 
the  reason  why  the  Connecticut  is  so  turbid 
now  ?"  asked  Forester. 

"  Because  of  the  freshet,"  said  Marco. 

"But  why  should  the  freshet  make  it  tur 
bid?"  •> 

"  Why,  I  don't  know  exactly,"  said  Marco. 

"The  reason  is,"  said  Forester,  "that  the 
freshet  is  produced  by  rains  and  melting  snows, 
from  a  vast  surface  of  ground,  and  from  sucR  a 
surface  the  water  washes  all  the  loose  soil  and 
light  particles  which  come  in  its  way,  into  the 
river.  So  that  the  water  of  a  flood,  produced 


0  !          T  n  i;    S  !•  ii  i  N  <;  ]•  i  K  j,  D    A  K  M  o  K  v 

iviiins.  Clear  water.  Dark  water.  Turbid  water. 


by  rains  falling  over  an  extensive  valley,  is  al 
ways  turbid.  When,  therefore,  I  see  such  a 
mass  of  turbid  water  as  is  now  flowing  through 
the  Connecticut,  I  judge  it  is  water  which  has 
come  from  the  rains  and  snows  of  an  extensive 
valley.  But  when  I  see  a  stream  bring  down 
only  clear  water  like  this,  after  such  rains  and 
thaws  as  we  have  had,  I  conclude  that  it  does 
not  come  from  the  draining  of  an  extensive  sur 
face  of  land,  but  from  a  pond,  or  else  from 
springs." 

"  And  can  you  tell  from  the  looks  of  the  wa 
ter,  whether  it  comes  from  a  pond  or  from 
springs  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  the  water  is  pretty  dark,"  said  For 
ester. 

"  And  what  does  that  indicate  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"  It  indicates,"  replied  Forester,  "  that  the 
stream  comes  from  springs,  and  swamps  which 
are  fed  by  springs.  The  way  in  which  swamps 
are  formed,  is  this.  When  springs  arise  in  flat 
land,  or  in  any  places  where  the  water  can  not 
run  off  as  fast  as  it  issues  from  the  ground,  it 
spreads  over  the  surface,  and  keeps  it  wet. 
Then  all  the  plants  which  grow  on  dry  land  arc- 
killed,  and  none  but  aquatic  plants  will  grow. 


FORGING.  65 

Formation  of  swamps.  Cause  of  the  color. 


And  these  aquatic  plants,  when  they  die,  do  not 
decay.  The  water  preserves  them,  and  other 
plants  grow  above  them.  The  leaves,  too,  and 
branches,  and  trunks  of  trees,  which  fall  in,  are 
covered  with  moss,  and  aquatic  plants,  and  wa 
ter,  and  are  thus  preserved  ;  and  in  this  manner 
a  great  depth  of  vegetable  substances  is  formed 
in  process  of  time,  the  water  ^ssuing  continu 
ally  from  the  ground,  of  a  dark  color  as  you 
see  it  in  this  stream." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Marco,  "  I  see  it  is,  and  I 
have  often  observed  it  so  in  other  brooks." 

"  But  the  water  which  comes  from  ponds  has 
generally  but  little  color,"  said  Forester. 

"  What  makes  it  so  dark  when  it  comes  from 
swamps  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Forester,  "  unless  it 
be  that  the  plants  and  the  various  vegetables 
remains,  half  decayed,  which  lie  soaking  in  the 
swamp,  color  it." 

Just  at  this  moment,  a  man  appeared,  com 
ing  out  of  a  shop  on  one  side  of  the  stream,  with 
some  curious-looking  piece  of  machinery  in  his 
hand,  and  he  advanced  toward  the  bridge,  as  if 
he  were  going  to  cross  it. 

"Ask  him,"  said  Marco,  "if  this  stream  rises 
much,  in  times  of  freshet." 


66         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  workman.  Back  water.  Explanation, 

Forester  said  that  he  would,  and  according 
ly,  when  the  man  had  come  opposite  to  them, 
Forester  accosted  him,  by  saying, 

"  The  freshet  does  not  appear  to  affect  your 
works  much  on  this  stream." 

"  No,  sir/'  replied  the  workman,  "  it  never 
does." 

"  What  is  the  reason  ?"  asked  Forester. 

"  Why,  the  stream  is  fed,"  replied  the  man, 
"  almost  entirely  by  large  springs,  a  short  dis 
tance  from  here,  and  the  rain  does  not  raise 
it  much." 

"  So,  then,  you  are  never  troubled  much  with 
back  water,"  said  Forester. 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  the  man,  "  not  at  all."  So 
saying,  he  passed  on. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  back  water  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"  When  the  water  below  the  dam,"  replied 
Forester,  "  does  not  run  off  fast  enough,  but 
flows  back  against  the  water-wheel,  so  as  to 
prevent  its  being  turned  round  by  the  current 
above,  it  is  called  back  water  by  millmen. 
Sometimes,  when  there  is  another  dam  a  short 
distance  below,  it  obstructs  the  water,  so  that, 
in  times  of  freshet,  it  can  not  escape  fast  enough,, 
and  so  the  upper  mill  is  troubled  with  back  wa 


FoRG  [  NG.  67 


forging  the  plates.  The  trip-hammers. 

ter.  And  even  when  there  is  not  any  other 
dam,  if  the  natural  bed  of  the  stream  offers  ob 
struction,  or  if  the  descent  is  not  great  enough 
to  carry  off  the  water  easily,  then,  when  any 
unusual  quantity  comes,  it  makes  difficulty. 
But  come,  let  us  go  into  the  next  shop/* 

So  Marco  and  Forester  went  over  into  an 
other  shop.  Here  the  workmen  were  forging 
out  the  plates  of  iron,  and  flattening  down  the 
edges,  and  then  bending  the  edges  over  toward 
one  another,  ready  to  be  lapped  and  welded. 
There  were  several  trip-hammers  here,  and 
Marco  had  a  better  opportunity  to  observe  the 
construction  of  them  than  in  the  great  forge 
room.  He  was  surprised  to  see  how  perfectly 
they  could  regulate  the  blows,  and  thus  strike 
slowly  and  carefully,  or  quick  and  strong,  at 
their  pleasure.  The  workmen  were  exceed 
ingly  accommodating  in  answering  all  the  ques 
tions  that  Marco  and  Forester  asked,  and  in  ex 
plaining  every  thing  which  was  going  on. 
They  seemed,  in  fact,  to  take  a  pleasure  in  do 
ing  it. 


68         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Brass  and  cast  iron.  Gold. 

CHAPTER   V. 
IRON. 

ON  the  walk  from  the  middle  water  shop  to 
the  upper  one,  Marco  asked  Forester  why 
they  did  not  make  gun-barrels  of  brass,  instead 
of  iron  ;  he  said  that  they  would  be  handsomer. 

"I  don't  know,"  replied  Forester.  "They 
make  cannon  for  field-pieces,  of  brass,  but  that 
is  not  on  account  of  their  beauty,  I  believe ; 
perhaps  because  they  can  be  made  lighter  and 
yet  of  the  same  strength,  when  of  that  materi 
al  ;  but  iron  is  always  used  for  musket  and  pis 
tol  barrels,  I  believe.  I  rather  think  this  may 
be  it :  iron  cannon  are  always  made  of  cast 
iron.  Now  brass  may  be  stronger  than  cast 
iron,  and  yet  wrought  iron  may  be  stronger 
than  brass.  Still  this  may  not  be  all  the  rea 
son.  The  various  metals  have  so  many  vari 
ous  properties,  that  it  would  require  a  great 
deal  of  study  to  be  acquainted  with  them  all." 

"  I  read  in  a  book  once/'  said  Marco,  "  that 
iron  is  really  more  valuable  than  gold." 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "  that  is  true." 


IRON.  69 

Meaning  of  valuable.  Value  of  gold. 

"  And  that  all  which  makes  gold  valuable," 
continued  Marco,  "  was  its  scarcity." 

"  No,"  said  Forester,  "  that  is  not  exactly 
true,  All  that  makes  gold  more  valuable  than 
iron,  may  be  its  scarcity." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  perhaps  that  was  it." 

"  There  is  a  great  difference  between  these 
two  statements,"  said  Forester.  "  And  then, 
besides,  there  is  an  ambiguity  in  the  meaning 
of  the  word  valuable." 

"  Valuable  !"  repeated  Marco  ;  "  I  didn't 
know  that  there  was  more  than  one  meaning  to 
that." 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?"  asked  Forester. 

"  It  means  worth  something,"  replied  Marco. 

"  Is  water  valuable  ?"  asked  Forester. 

"  Why,  I  don't  know,"  said  Marco ;  "  we 
couldn't  do  without  it,  very  well." 

"  No,"  rejoined  Forester,  "  but  still  people 
will  not  pay  any  thing  for  it,  generally,  for  it  is 
so  plentiful  that  they  can  get  it  without  paying. 
Thus  it  has  a  great  value  for  its  intrinsic  qual 
ities,  but  no  market  or  money  value.  Now  if 
gold  was  as  plenty  as  stones  in  the  street,  it 
would  be  very  valuable  in  the  former  sense,  for 
it  has  some  qualities  which  no  other  metals 
have,  and  which  are  very  important." 


70         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Steel.  Gold,  and  iron  compared. 

"  What  are  they  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Perhaps  the  most  important,"  replied  For 
ester,  "  is,  that  it  will  not  rust,  or  tarnish,  by 
being  exposed  to  air  or  water,  and  it  will  not 
be  corroded  by  any  common  acids.  If  a  drop 
of  vinegar  falls  upon  a  knife-blade,  it  makes  a 
black  spot ;  and  if  you  cut  an  apple  with  a 
common  knife,  it  blackens  it.  The  acid  of 
the  vinegar,  or  of  the  apple  juice,  corrodes  the 
iron." 

"  I  thought  that  knife-blades  were  made  of 
steel,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forester,  "  but  steel  is  a  prep 
aration  of  iron.  So  if  iron  is  exposed  to  the 
air,  and  especially  to  water,  it  rusts,  and  is  soon 
spoiled ;  but  gold  might  remain  half  a  centu 
ry  buried  in  the  ground,  without  changing, 
Therefore,  if  gold  were  as  plentiful  as  iron, 
it  would  be  used  for  a  great  many  things  which 
iron  is  used  for  now,  simply  because  iron  is  so 
common  and  cheap." 

"  What  are  some  of  the  things  it  would  be 
used  for  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  for  every  thing,"  replied  Forester, 
"  which  did  not  require  any  great  hardness, 
such  as  spoons,  fruit  knives,  handles  of  doors, 
knobs,  kevs,  and  all  kinds  of  vessels  for  use  in  a 


IRON.  71 

Effect  of  heat. 


family,  as  plates,  cups,  &c.;  also  for  all  kinds 
of  cooking  utensils,  as  kettles,  skillets,  &c.  I 
presume,  too,  it  would  be  used  for  sheathing  of 
ships,  or  for  covering  roofs  of  houses  ;  and,  in 
fact,  for  almost  all  purposes,  where  particular 
hardness  is  not  required.  Still,  on  the  whole, 
iron  is  more  useful  to  men  than  gold  would  be, 
for  it  has  several  qualities  of  a  very  curious  na 
ture,  which  admirably  fit  it  for  our  use.  It  has, 
in  fact,  two  sets  of  useful  qualities,  which  are 
very  distinct  from  each  other.  One  set  relates 
to  the  facility  of  manufacturing  it,  and  the  other 
set  to  its  usefulness  when  manufactured/' 

"  I  believe  I  know  what  one  of  them  is,"  said 
Marco.  "  You  can  hammer  it  when  it  is  hot." 

"  It  undergoes  three  changes  by  heat,"  said 
Forester,  "  which  are  all  of  great  service  in 
manufacturing  it.  First,  it  becomes  more  mal 
leable  and  flexible.  This  is  when  it  is  red-hot, 
If  it  was  as  malleable  and  flexible  when  cold, 
as  it  is  when  it  is  red-hot,  it  would  be  unfit  for 
most  of  its  present  uses.  It  would  bend  down, 
at  once,  under  any  load  laid  upon  it,  like  lead. 
But,  by  becoming  more  malleable  and  flexible 
when  hot,  it  can  be  formed  into  its  proper  shape, 
and  the>i.  on  becoming  cold,  it  resumes  all  its 
hardness  mid  toughness  again.  It  seems  as  if 


72         THE    SPRCNGFIELD    ARMORY. 

BritUeness.  WeldingT 

these  qualities  were  given  to  it  expressly  for  the 
advantage  of  man,  as  we  know  of  no  reason 
why  heat  should  make  it  flexible  and  soft,  rather 
than  brittle,  as  it  does  brass  and  lead." 

"  Does  heat  make  brass  and  lead  brittle  ?" 
asked  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forester ;  "  if  you  drop  a 
piece  of  hot  brass  upon  the  hearth,  it  will  break 
to  pieces.  And  didn't  you  ever  observe,  when 
you  are  casting  little  anchors  of  lead,  that  if  you 
attempt  to  take  the  anchor  out  before  the  lead 
is  cool,  it  will  break  to  pieces  ?" 

"  No,"  said  Marco,  "  I  never  cast  any  an 
chors  of  lead." 

"  That  is  the  way  it  does  work,"  said  Fores 
ter  ;  "  but  iron  becomes  very  malleable  and  pli 
able  as  it  grows  hot,  until,  at  last,  when  it  is  at 
a  white  heat,  a  remarkable  effect  takes  place, 
which  is  of  great  importance.  That  is,  the  sur 
face  softens.  It  does  not  melt,  that  is,  become 
liquid,  as  lead  does  ;  but  it  softens  in  a  peculiar 
way,  so  that,  if  you  put  two  surfaces  together, 
while  they  are  in  this  state,  and  hammer  them 
together,  they  join  perfectly,  and  make  one  ho 
mogeneous  mass." 

"  What  does  homogeneous  mean  ?"  asked 
Marco. 


IRON.  73 

Importance  of  the  welding  property.  Steel  welded  to  iron. 

"  All  alike,"  replied  Forester,  "  through  the 
whole  substance.  The  place  where  the  junc 
tion  is  formed  is  just  like  all  the  rest  of  it.  This 
is  welding.  I  believe  there  is  no  other  metal 
but  iron,  that  softens  in  this  manner  upon  the 
surface,  at  a  great  heat,  so  that  two  pieces  can 
be  joined  together.  This,  you  see,  is  of  im 
mense  importance  in  manufacturing  iron,  for  it 
is  very  often  necessary  to  join  parts  together. 
They  could  not  make  the  gun-barrels  in  the 
manner  they  do,  if  it  were  not  for  this  welding 
property  of  the  iron.  As  it  is,  they  can  take 
a  flat  bar,  wide  enough  to  make  a  gun-barrel 
when  it  is  rolled  up,  and  then,  by  rolling  it  up 
so  as  to  have  one  edge  lap  well  over  the  other, 
they  can  weld  it  and  make  it  one  solid  mass. 
If  you  look  at  the  barrel  when  it  is  ground  and 
polished,  you  can  not  find  the  least  indication 
of  any  joint  where  one  edge  lapped  over  the 
other." 

"  And  nothing  else  but  iron  can  be  welded, 
then,"  said  Marco. 

"  Iron  and  steel,"  said  Forester.  "  Steel  can 
be  welded  to  steel,  or  to  iron.  That  is  the  way 
they  make  nearly  all  cutting  tools.  The  cutting 
part  is  made  of  steel,  but  the  rest  of  the  instru 
ment  is  generally  made  of  iron — the  two  parts 


74:      THE   SPRINGFIELD    AKMOKY. 


Fusibility  of  iron. 


being  made  separately,  and  welded  together. 
Where  steel  is  welded  to  iron,  you  can  gene 
rally  see  a  joint,  for  the  two  metals  are  of  a  lit 
tle  different  color.  In  a  common  table  knife, 
you  can  almost  always  see  this  mark  near  the 
handle,  where  the  steel  blade  was  joined  to  the 
iron  part,  which  goes  into  the  handle." 

"I'll  look  next  time  I  see  one,"  said  Marco. 
"  So  in  axes,  chisels,  plane  irons,  and  all  such 
tools,"  continued  Forester,  "  we  can  generally 
see  where  the  steel-cutting  part  was  welded 
to  the  iron  shank.  Then  the  fusibility  of  iron 
is  another  property  of  great  importance.  In 
a  certain  state,  iron  can  be  melted.  They 
melt  it  in  great  furnaces.  They  mix  the  iron 
with  wood  in  putitng  it  into  the  furnace, 
and  then  blow  the  fire  with  monstrous  bel 
lows  driven  by  machinery.  When  the 
iron  is  melted,  and 
has  become  sufficient 
ly  hot,  they  draw  it 
off  through  an  open 
ing  in  the  bottom 
of  the  furnace — the 
opening  being  kept 
stopped  up  till  the 
iron  is  melted. 


IRON.  75 

Casting.  Cast  iron. 

When  it  is  ready,  they  punch  the  hole  open, 
and  the  melted  iron  comes  out  like  a  stream  of 
liquid  fire." 

"  Where  does  it  run  to  ?"  asked  Marco. 
"  Oh,  they  hold  a  great  ladle  under  it  to 
catch  it.  The  ladle  is  supported  between  two 
long  bars  for  handles,  and  is  carried  by  two 
men.  When  the  ladle  is  full,  they  carry  away 
the  liquid  iron,  and  pour  it  into  the  mold,  made 
ready  for  it  beforehand.  When  one  ladle  full 
is  carried  away,  two  men  are  all  ready  with 
another,  to  put  directly  under,  when  the  first  is 
taken  away,  to  catch  the  stream  of  iron,  which 
keeps  running  all  the  time." 

"  Where  did  you  see  them  cast  iron  so  ?"  said 
Marco. 

"  Oh,  I've  often  been  in  foundries,"  said  For 
ester,  "  where  I've  seen  the  process." 

"  Why  don't  they  cast  gun-barrels  ?"  said 
Marco. 

'•'  They  would  not  be  strong  enough.  Cast 
iron  is  of  a  different  nature  from  wrought  iron, 
—more  brittle  ;  and,  besides,  it  is  apt  to  have 
flaws.  So  that  cast  iron  will  not  answer  where 
great  strength  and  toughness  are  required,  unless 
it  is  in  cases  where  weight  is  no  objection,  as, 
for  instance,  where  the  article  is  not  to  be  much 


76         THE   SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Cannons  of  forts.  Form  of  the  cannons. 

moved.  Thus,  the  cannons  of  forts,  which  are 
always  stationary,  are  of  cast  iron,  but,  in  order 
to  be  strong,  they  have  to  be  made  enormously 
thick  and  heavy.  But  muskets,  which  the  sol 
dier  has  to  carry  upon  his  shoulder,  must  be 
made  as  light  as  possible.  So  they  use  the  best 
wrought  iron,  and  thus  the  barrels  can  be  made 
much  thinner  than  if  they  were  of  cast  iron. 
You  see  that  a  soldier,  besides  his  gun,  has  to 
carry  his  knapsack  of  clothes,  and  his  powder 
and  ball,  and  sometimes  several  days'  provision  ; 
so  that  often,  when  on  a  march,  he  is  loaded 
down  with  almost  as  great  a  burden  as  he  can 
carry.  With  this,  he  has  to  travel  through  mud 
and  snow,  and  sometimes  through  woods  and 
swamps,  and  thus  it  becomes  necessary  to  make 
the  musket,  and  all  his  equipments,  in  fact,  as 
light  as  possible." 

"  What  makes  them  have  it  bigger  at  one  end 
than  it  is  at  the  other  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  So  as  to  have  the  iron  thicker  at  one  end. 
The  bigness  at  that  end  is  occasioned  by  the 
greater  thickness  of  the  iron  there.  The  bore 
is  of  the  same  diameter  throughout.  You  see 
that  the  chief  force  of  the  explosion  of  the  gun 
powder,  is  at  the  breech,  where  the  charge  lies. 
As  the  ball  advances  through  the  barrel,  the 


IRON.  77 

Gaaea.  Philosophy  of  explosion. 

gases  expand,  sfcd  their  force  diminishes,  so  that 
so  great  strength  is  not  required  at  the  muzzle. 
Cannon  are  always  cast  in  the  same  manner,  so 
as  to  have  the  greatest  strength  and  thickness 
at  the  part  which  has  to  resist  the  greatest  force 
of  the  explosion.  There  are,  in  fact,  two  rea 
sons,  why  the  force  of  the  gunpowder  diminishes 
as  the  ball  moves  on  toward  the  muzzle.  The 
first  is  that  the  gases  expand,  and  the  second  is 
that  they  cool." 

"  What  gases  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  The  gases/'  replied  Forester,  "  which  are 
produced  by  the  combustion  of  the  gunpowder. 
When  gunpowder  burns,  the  solid  parts,  which 
it  is  composed  of,  suddenly  combine,  and  change 
into  gases.  Now  as  the  solid  gunpowder  occu 
pied  much  less  room  than  the  gases  which  are 
formed  from  it,  these  gases  expand  with  great 
force,  to  get  their  proper  place,  and  that  is  what 
gives  the  explosive  force." 

"  Is  that  the  philosophy  of  it  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "  in  part ;  but  that 
does  not  account  for  the  whole  explosive  force 
of  gunpowder.  For  if  gunpowder  is  exploded 
in  a  confined  space,  so  that  they  can  collect  all 
the  gases  which  result" 


78         THE    S  P  K  i  N  o  p  i  E  L  D    ARMORY. 


Chemical  experiments.  Contrivances, 

"  I  should  think  it  would  blow  the  confined 
place  all  to  pieces,"  interrupted  Marco. 

"  Oh,  the  chemists  have  a  mode  of  arranging 
apparatus  to  prevent  that,  and  to  keep  the 
gases  from  escaping." 

"  How  do  they  do  it  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  They  drop  the  gunpowder,  by  degrees,  that 
is,  a  few  grains  at  a  time,  upon  hot  iron, — per 
haps  the  end  of  a  gun-barrel,  and  then  have  the 
other  end  of  the  barrel  bent,  so  as  to  pass  under 
water.  Then,  as  the  powder  is  inflamed  and 
explodes,  the  gases  pass  out  through  the  muzzle 
of  the  gun-barrel  and  come  up  in  bubbles 
through  the  water." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  but  they  would  get 
away  into  the  air  and  be  lost." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Forester,  "  for  it  would  be 
very  easy  to  have  a  vessel  upside  down  over 
the  place,  to  catch  all  the  bubbles,  or  rather  the 
gases  that  are  in  them.  The  chemists  have 
very  ingenious  modes  contrived  for  doing  all 
such  things." 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  contrive  to  keep  the 
gunpowder  from  all  flashing  off  at  once." 

"  I  don't  know  precisely  how  they  do  it,"  said 
Forester,  "but  it  would  be  easy  to  have  a  tube 
screwed  into  the  end  of  the  barrel,  directly  over 


IRON.  79 

Results. 

the  heated  part,  and  then  have  a  contrivance 
for  dropping  the  gunpowder,  a  few  grains  at  a 
time,  down  through  this  tube.  Then  if  the  part 
which  contained  the  gunpowder,  at  the  top  of 
the  tube,  was  closed  over,  so  that  the  gases 
could  not  escape  that  way,  they  would  all  pass 
off  through  the  barrel,  and  come  up  in  bubbles 
through  the  water. 

"  Now,  by  some  such  contrivance  as  this," 
continued  Forester,  "  the  chemists  have  col 
lected  the  gases  which  result  from  burning  a 
certain  quantity  of  gunpowder,  and  then,  by 
pressing  those  gases  into  as  small  a  space  as  the 
powder  itself  occupied  before,  they  can  tell  what 
the  expansive  force  is." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  I  understand  it,  I  be 
lieve." 

"  The  object,"  continued  Forester,  "  of  all 
this  is,  to  measure  the  expansive  power  of  the 
gases,  and  ascertain  whether  that  power  is 
enough  to  account  for  the  explosive  force  of 
gunpowder." 

"  And  is  it  enough  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  No,"  replied  Forester  ;  "  the  result  of  the 
experiment  is,  that  the  expansive  force  of  the 
gases,  which  result  from  the  burning  of  the 
gunpowder,  when  they  are  collected  and  artifi- 


80         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Forester's  explanations.  Effect  of  heat. 


cially  compressed,  is  not  great  enough  to  pro 
duce  such  powerful  effects  as  are  caused  by  the 
explosion  of  the  powder." 

"  Perhaps  some  of  the  gases  escape,"  said 
Marco. 

"  They  have  tried  the  experiment  very  care 
fully,"  said  Forester.  "  But  there  is  one  cir 
cumstance  which  makes  the  case  very  different, 
when  the  gases  are  collected  in  this  manner, 
from  the  natural  explosion." 

"  What  is  it  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  The  gases,"  replied  Forester,  "  are  in  a  very 
different  condition,  when  they  are  first  produced, 
from  what  they  are  when  they  are  collected  and 
compressed  afterward.  When  they  are  first 
formed  by  the  burning  of  the  gunpowder,  they 
are  intensely  hot ;  but  when  they  are  after 
ward  collected  and  condensed  slowly,  they  are 
cold.  This  must  make  a  considerable  difference 
in  the  force  which  they  exert." 

"  Why  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Because,"  said  Forester,  "  any  gas,  when 
hot,  expands  with  greater  force  than  when  cold. 
A  bladder  filled  with  air,  will  burst  if  you  put  it 
down  before  a  hot  fire.  Steam,  too,  expands 
with  vastly  greater  force  when  it  is  heated  to  a 
high  degree,  than  when  it  remains  at  the  same 


IKOX.  81 

Gunpowder.  Conclusion. 

temperature  at  which  it  was  generated.  So  the 
gases  resulting  from  the  burning  of  gunpowder, 
when  hot,  will  expand  with  much  greater  force 
than  when  cold.  And  when  they  are  first 
formed  by  the  burning  of  the  powder,  they  must 
be  intensely  hot,  from  the  heat  produced  by  the 
combustion.  So  that,  perhaps,  that  is  the  ex 
planation  of  the  force  of  gunpowder.  Stated  in 
general  terms,  it  would  be  thus.  The  explosive 
force  of  gunpowder  is  owing  to  the  sudden  for 
mation  of  a  large  quantity  of  elastic  and  expan 
sive  gases,  at  a  very  high  temperature. 

'•  Therefore,"  continued  Forester,  "the  great 
thickness  of  the  gun  must  be  at  the  place  where 
the  gunpowder  is  lodged,  as  there  the  gases  are 
first  formed  and  most  compressed.  As  the  bul 
let  moves  along  the  barrel,  the  gases  expand 
and  fill  the  space,  and  so  their  force  is  dimin 
ished  ;  but  they  still  continue  to  act,  though 
more  and  more  feebly,  pushing  the  bullet  along 
until  it  leaves  the  muzzle  of  the  gun." 
F 


82         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMOR  Y. 


Marco  hungry.  Tho  sign.  Tha  pleasant  front  yard. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
ARCHERY. 

IN  passing  along  the  road  from  one  water  shop 
to  another,  Marco  saw  something  which 
made  him  hungry,  namely  a  sign  put  up  over 
the  door  of  a  small  house,  saying  that  cakes  and 
beer  were  for  sale  within. 

"  Ah !"  said  Marco,  as  soon  as  his  eyes  fell 
upon  this  sign,  "  let  us  go  in  and  get  some  cakes 
and  beer." 

"  Why  !  are  you  hungry  ?"  asked  Forester. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Marco,  "  and  thirsty  too." 

"  Well,"  said  Forester,  "  let  us  go  in  then  and 
see  what  they  have  got  that  is  good." 

There  was  a  little  yard  in  front  of  the  house, 
with  a  gate  leading  into  it.  On  each  side  of 
the  path  leading  from  the  gate  to  the  door  of  the 
house  there  \vas  a  little  parterre,  planted  with 
shrubs  and  flowers.  The  flowers  were  just 
coming  up  out  of  the  ground.  The  beds  looked 
very  neat  and  nice,  having  been  spaded  up  and 
raked  over  only  the  day  before. 

At  the  time  when  Forester  and  Marco  turned 


A  R  C  H  E  R  Y.  83 


Girl  afraid.  Marco  and  Forester  go  into  the  house.        Hot  cakes. 

to  go  into  the  house  there  was  a  little  girl  in  the 
pathway,  employed  in  sowing  some  flower  seeds. 
When  she  saw  Forester  and  Marco  coming, 
however,  she  jumped  up  and  ran  into  the  house. 

"  i  don't  see  what  she  is  afraid  of,"  said 
Marco. 

Forester  and  Marco  walked  into  the  yard  and 
advanced  to  the  step  of  the  door.  The  door 
opened  into  a  small  entry,  and  the  entry  into  a 
very  neat  and  pleasant-looking  room.  There 
was  a  woman  just  coming  forward  into  the 
entry  from  the  room. 

"  We  wanted  to  get  some  of  your  cakes," 
said  Forester. 

"  Walk  in,"  said  the  woman. 

So  Forester  and  Marco  walked  in.  The 
woman  conducted  them  into  the  room,  and  gave 
them  seats  by  a  little  table. 

"  I  am  just  baking,"  said  the  woman,  "  and  I 
can  give  you  some  cakes  right  from  the  oven." 

"  That  will  be  good,"  said  Marco. 

"  Have  you  got  milk  as  well  as  beer  ?"  asked 
Forester. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  woman,  "  I  can  let  you  have 
some  milk." 

"  Would  not  you  like  milk  as  well  as  beer 
Marco  ?"  said  Forester. 


84         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  platform.  The  cakes  and  milk  brought  in. 


"  Yes,"  replied  Marco,  "  better." 

The  woman  then  went  out  to  get  the  cakes 
and  milk,  while  Marco  and  Forester  remained, 
and  began  to  look  about  the  room.  There  was 
a  door  on  the  side  opposite  to  the  one  where 
they  had  come  in,  which  seemed  to  lead  out 
into  a  pleasant-looking  yard.  Marco  went  to 
this  side  door  to  see. 

He  found  a  little  platform  outside,  covered 
with  a  roof,  and  having  a  seat  on  each  side  of 
it.  He  sat  down  upon  the  seat,  and  then  called 
to  Forester. 

"  Forester,"  said  he,  "  come  here." 

"  No,"  said  Forester,  "  not  yet." 

In  a  moment  more  the  woman  came  in  with 
a  waiter  in  her  hands,  containing  a  plate  of 
hearts  and  rounds,  hot  from  the  oven,  and  a 
pitcher  of  milk.  There  were  two  tumblers  on 
the  waiter  also.  The  woman  placed  the  waiter 
down  upon  the  table. 

"  Have  you  any  objection  to  our  going  out 
upon  the  stoop  ?"  said  Forester. 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  the  woman.  "  I  will  move 
the  little  table  right  out  there." 

So  she  took  up  the  table,  which  was  very 
small,  and  carried  it,  with  the  waiter  upon  it, 
out  to  the  stoop.  Forester  followed  her.  She 


ARCHERY. 


The  luncheon  eating. 


85 

Rich  milk. 


THS  STOOP, 


put  the  table  down 
in  the  stoop  be 
tween  the  two 
benches.and  Marco 
and  Forester  took 
seats  on  the  bench 
es,  one  on  each  side. 

"  This  is  a  good 
place,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  said  For 
ester,  "  and  a  good 
luncheon." 

Forester  poured 
out  some  of  the 

milk.  It  looked  very  rich  indeed.  In  fact,  the 
woman  having  been  much  pleased  with  the  ap 
pearance  and  manners  of  her  guests,  had  con 
trived  in  pouring  out  the  milk  from  the  pan 
into  the  pitcher,  to  mix  with  it  an  unusual  por 
tion  of  the  cream,  so  that  the  milk  as  she  brought 
it  to  the  table  was  very  rich  indeed. 

While  eating  their  cakes  and  drinking  their 
milk,  Forester  and  Marco  were  much  interested 
in  viewing  the  scene  around  them.  The  stoop 
where  they  were  sitting  was  on  the  back  side 
of  the  house,  and  there  were  steps  leading  from 
it  down  to  a  neat  little  garden,  all  laid  out  care- 


86         THE    SPRINGFIELD    A  n  M  o  R  Y. 


Gate  leading  into  the  garden.  Path  beyond. 

fully  in  beds.  At  the  end  of  the  garden  was  a 
gate,  and  a  path  beyond  it.  The  path  led  appa 
rently  down  to  the  mill  stream,  which  flowed 
through  .the  grounds  in  that  direction.  Marco 
could  not  see  the  stream  very  well,  on  account 
of  the  trees  and  shrubbery  that  were  in  the 
way.  He  could  hear  it,  however,  and  he  said 
that  after  he  had  finished  his  luncheon  he  meant 
to  go  down  and  see  it. 

Forester  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  this 
remark  of  Marco's,  for  he  was  busy  at  the  time 
in  reading  a  newspaper  which  he  had  found  in 
the  room  while  the  woman  was  gone  after  the 
cakes,  and  which  he  had  brought  out  with  him 
to  the  stoop.  He  held  the  newspaper  in  one 
hand,  and  the  cake  which  he  was  eating  in  the 
other. 

"I've  a  great  mind  to  go  down  now,"  said 
Marco.  •  "  Would  you,  cousin  Forester  ?" 

"  Would  you  what  ?"  asked  Forester,  still 
reading. 

"  Go  down  and  see  the  br»ok,"  said  Marco. 
"  That  path  there  beyond  the  garden  leads  down 
to  the  stream,  I  suppose." 

"  And  you  want  to  go  down  ?"  said  Forester. 

t:  Yes,"  replied  Marco. 

"  I  shall   have   to  go  with   you   then,"  said 


A  R  C  H  E  R  Y.  87 


Marco's  two  cakes.  Scenery  on  the  bunks  of  the  stream. 


Forester,  "  to  see  that  you  don't  get  into  any 
difficulty." 

"  There  is  no  danger  of  any  difficulty,"  said 
Marco.  "  But  still  I  should  like  to  have  you 

g°" 

"  Well,'"  said  Forester,  "  go  on.  I'll  follow 
you." 

So  Forester  and  Marco  rose  from  their  seats 
and  prepared  to  go.  Forester  held  his  news 
paper  in  one  hand,  keeping  his  eyes  still  fixed 
upon  it,  so  as  to  continue  his  reading,  and  he 
took  another  cake  in  the  other  hand,  so  as  to 
go  on  with  his  luncheon  by  the  way.  As  for 
Marco,  he  took  two  cakes,  so  as  to  be  sure  of 
an  abundant  supply.  Thus  provided,  Marco 
ran  down  through  the  garden,  while  Forester 
slowly  followed,  reading  by  the  way.. 

A  winding  pathway  led  down  from  the  lower 
garden  gate  through  a  wild  scene  of  rocks  and 
trees,  down  to  the  banks  of  the  stream.  The 
scenery  was  so  wild  and  picturesque,  that  For 
ester's  attention  was,  for  a  time,  wholly  taken 
off  from  his  reading  by  it.  He  looked  at  the 
water  which  came  roaring  and  foaming  along 
over  its  rocky  bed.  He  looked  at  the  precipices 
which  overhung  the  stream,  and  at  the  mosses 
and  lichens  which  enriched  the  rocks,  and  the 


88         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Marco's  remarks.  Robbing  birds'-uests.  Forester's  story. 

climbing  plants  which  hung  suspended  from 
them  in  beautiful  festoons.  He  stood  a  few 
minutes  admiring  all  this  beauty  and  neglecting 
his  newspaper,  when  Marco  interrupted  his 
reverie  by  saying, 

"  I  wish  I  could  get  over  to  the  other  side." 

11  Why  ?"  asked  Forester. 

"  To  run  about  in  the  woods  over  there,"  re 
plied  Marco.  "  I  don't  believe  but  that  there 
are  birds'-nests  in  those  woods." 

"  And  what  should  you  do  with  the  birds'- 
nests,"  said  Forester,  "  if  you  should  find  them  ?" 

"  Oh,  nothing,"  said  Marco  ;  "  only  climb  up 
and  look  in  to  see  the  eggs.  I  would  not  rob 
the  nests  on  any  account.  It  is  wicked  to  rob 
birds'-nests  ;  don't  you  think  it  is  ?" 

"  I  think  it  is  generally  wrong." 

"  Generally  ?"  repeated  Marco.  "  It  is  al 
ways  wrong,  I  am  sure." 

"  That  depends  upon  what  you  mean  by  rob 
bing  the  nests." 

"  Why,  taking  the  eggs,"  said  Marco,  "  and 
carrying  them  away." 

"  Well,"  said  Forester,  "  I  know  a  farmer's 
boy  in  Vermont — and  a  very  excellent  boy  he 
was,  too, — who  used  to  go  out  every  morning 


ARCHERY.  89 


Surprise  of  Marco.  Forester's  explanation. 

and  get  the  eggs  out  of  ever  so  many  birds'- 
nests." 

"  And  what  did  he  do  with  them  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"  Why,  he  would  carry  them  home,  and  af 
terward  the  girls  in  the  house  used  to  break 
them  up." 

"  Hoh  ! — what  girls !"  said  Marco. 

"  And  I  think  they  did  perfectly  right,"  said 
Forester. 

So  saying,  Forester  turned  away  and  walked 
toward  some  large  square  stones  which  lay  near 
the  bank  of  the  stream,  and  sitting  down  upon 
them,  began  to  read  his  paper,  leaving  Marco 
overwhelmed  with  astonishment. 

"  Perhaps  I  ought  to  mention,  however,"  con 
tinued  Forester,  raising  his  eyes  from  the  paper 
a  moment  as  he  spoke, — "  that  the  birds  were 
hens,  and  the  nests  that  this  boy  went  to  were 
all  in  his  father's  barn.  The  girls  broke  the 
eggs  up  to  make  puddings  and  pies." 

Marco  laughed  aloud  at  this  termination  of 
the  story,  and  at  first  he  insisted  that  hens  were 
not  birds.  He  was,  however,  soon  obliged  to 
relinquish  this  point,  and  he  went  down  to  the 
shore  of  the  stream,  and  began  to  pick  up  small 
stones,  and  try  to  see  if  he  could  throw  them 


90 


T  H  E     S  P  R  [  \  G  FIELD     ARM  O  R  Y . 


Projectiles. 

across  the  stream.  He  found  that  he  could. 
The  stones  that  he  threw  struck  against  the 
precipice  on  the  other  side  with  great  force, 
and  rebounded  into  the  water. 

"  I  can  throw  stones  very  swift,"  said  Marco, 
talking  to  himself.  "  I  wonder  if  a  bullet  goes 
swifter  out  of  a  gun.'' 


"Forester,"  said  Marco,  "just  look  here  a 
minute.  Do  you  suppose  that  a  bullet  out  of  a 
gun  goes  a  great  deal  swifter  than  that  ?'' 


ARCHERY.  91 


Marco's  questions.  A  lecture  promised. 

As  Marco  pronounced  the  word  that,  he 
lanched  the  stone  through  the  air  with  all  its 
force.  It  flew  across  the  stream  and  went  far 
in  among  the  trees  on  the  opposite  bank. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Forester,  still  reading. 

"  Or  an  arrow,"  continued  Marco.  "  I  wonder 
how  much  swifter  a  bullet  goes  than  an  arrow." 

"  Cousin  Forester,"  said  Marco. 

Forester  did  not  answer. 

"  Cousin  Forester,"  repeated  Marco. 

"What?"  said  Forester. 

"  How  swift  does  an  arrow  go  ?"  said  Marco. 

Forester  did  not  answer,  but  went  on  with  his 
reading. 

"  Does  not  an  arrow  go  as  swift  as  a  bullet, 
— nearly  ?"  continued  Marco. 

"  An  arrow  !"  repeated  Forester.  "  I  am  busy 
now,  reading,  Marco.  If  you  will  leave  me  in 
peace  until  I  have  finished  this  article,  I  will  tell 
you  all  about  arrows  and  archery.  I  will  deliver 
you  a  regular  lecture." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco. 

Marco  had  laid  his  two  cakes  down  upon  a 
flat  stone  while  he  had  been  throwing  pebbles 
across  the  brook  ;  but  now  he  took  them  up 
again,  and  began  to  eat  them.  After  a  short 
time  Forester  finished  his  reading,  and  then 


92         THE    SPUING  FIELD    ARMORY. 

Forester  commences  his  lecture.  Archery ;  definition  of  it. 

gave  notice  to  Marco  that  he  was  ready  to  at 
tend  to  him. 

So  Marco  walked  along  toward  Forester, 
saying, 

"  Now,  cousin  Forester,  for  the  lecture  on  ar 
chery  that  you  promised  me." 

"  Well,"  said  Forester,  "  take  your  seat  on 
that  stone,  and  be  the  audience,  and  I  will  de 
liver  you  a  lecture." 

So  Marco  sat  down  upon  the  stone  that  For 
ester  pointed  out, — which  was  nearly  opposite 
to  where  Forester  himself  was  sitting; — and  be- 

O 

gan  to  compose  himself  to  listen. 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen !"  said  Forester. 

Here  Marco  smiled. 

"  The  audience  is  expected  to  keep  sober/' 
said  Forester. 

At  this  Marco  laughed  outright,  but  in  a  mo 
ment  more  he  recovered  his  gravity,  and  For 
ester  proceeded  as  follows  : — 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen  ;  The  subject  of  this 
lecture  is  Archery.  Archery  is  the  art  of 
using  the  bow  and  arrow.  Before  the  in 
vention  of  gunpowder,  the  bow  and  arrow 
were  used  as  instruments  of  war.  Since 
that  invention,  archery  is  no  longer  em 
ployed  in  the  warfare  of  civilized  nations. 


ARCHERY.  93 

Missiles.  Philosophical  explanations. 

The  North  American  Indians,  and  savage  na 
tions,  still  use  the  bow  and  arrow  in  their  wars, 
and  in  the  pursuit  of  game.  These  instruments 
were  of  very  ancient  use,  and  are  mentioned 
*n  the  Bible.  The  principles  on  which  the  bow 
and  arrow  are  made,  will  be  seen  from  their 
structure  and  design.  An  arrow  is  a  kind  of 
missile.  Missiles  are  those  weapons  which  are 
designed  to  be  thrown  through  the  air,  by  the 
strength  of  the  combatant  who  uses  them. 
The  dart,  the  lance,  and  the  arrow,  are  missiles, 
but  the  sword  and  the  dagger  are  not.  Stones 
are  often  used  as  missiles.  A  spear,  when  it  is 
thrown,  is  a  missile,  but  when  retained  in  the 
hands  and  used  only  to  give  thrusts,  it  is  not. 
The  harpoon  thrown  at  a  whale  is  a  missile." 

Forester  said  all  this  in  a  very  grave  and  se 
rious  way,  as  if  he  were  really  delivering  a  lec 
ture.  Marco  was  at  first  inclined  to  laugh,  but 
he  gradually  became  interested  in  what  Fores 
ter  was  saying,  and  at  length  began  to  listen 
quite  attentively. 

"  A  man,  with  his  naked  strength,"  contin 
ued  Forester,  "  can  give  a  missile  a  greater  or 
less  velocity,  according  to  its  weight.  If  he 
takes  up  a  ball  of  iron,  weighing  ten  pounds, 
apd  throws  it  with  all  his  strength,  he  can  only 


94         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  lecturer  interrupted.  The  lecture  suddenly  terminated. 


give  it  a  slow  motion,  and  this  motion  will  car 
ry  it  but  a  very  little  way.  If  now  he  takes  a 
five-pound  ball  and  makes  an  effort  as  great  as 
before,  he  will  give  it  a  quicker  motion.  The 
velocity  of  his  arm  through  the  air  with  a  five- 
pound  ball,  may  be  about  twice  as  great  as 
when  it  is  loaded  with  a  ten-pound  ball.  The 
rnan  produces  the  same  amount  of  motion  in 
the  two  cases.  In  the  first,  he  gives  a  great 
quantity  of  matter  a  small  motion.  In  the  lat 
ter,  he  gives  a  small  quantity  of  matter  a  great 
motion.  The  whole  amount  of  the  moving 
effect  is  the  same." 

"I  don't  understand  that  very  well,"  said 
Marco. 

"  The  audience  are  requested  not  to  interrupt 
the  lecture,"  said  Forester. 

Marco  smiled,  and  Forester  went  on. 

" If  a  boy,"  he  continued,  "throws  a  great 
stone,  as  far  as  he  can,  perhaps  it  would  only 
go  a  single  rod.  If  he  makes  the  same  effort  to 
throw  a  small  stone,  it  will  go  eight  or  ten  rods; 
that  is,  if  the  small  stone  were  only  one  eighth 
or  one  tenth  as  large  as  the  other." 

Just  at  this  point  Forester  interrupted  him 
self  to  say  that  it  was  time  for  them  to  go  back, 
or  the  woman  at  the  house  would  wonder  what 


A  R  C  II  E  R  Y.  95 


Essential  difference  between  a  gun  and  a  bow.  Power. 


had  become  of  them.  She  might  imagine,  he 
said,  that  they  had  eaten  her  cakes,  and  drank 
her  milk,  and  had  now  gone  away  without  pay 
ing  for  them. 

If  Forester  had  not  thus  felt  obliged  to  go 
back  to  the  house,  and  if  he  had  found  that 
Marco  had  been  able  to  understand  his  lecture, 
he  would  have  gone  on  to  state  some  very  cu 
rious  principles  in  respect  to  the  operation  of 
the  bow  and  arrow.  There  is  an  essential  dif 
ference  between  a  gun  and  a  bow  in  this  re 
spect,  that  a  gun  is  an  instrument  for  creating 
power  by  means  of  the  explosion  of  the  powder 
contained  within  it ;  while  a  bow  is  only  an  in 
strument  for  changing  power,  already  existing, 
into  speed.  The  force  with  which  a  man  pulls 
a  trigger  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  velocity  of 
the  bullet ;  but  the  force  with  which  a  man 
draws  the  bow,  is  the  sole  cause  that  determines 
the  velocity  of  the  arrow. 

What  Forester  had  been  intending  to  say  to 
Marco,  when  speaking  of  the  power  which  a 
man  has  to  throw  a  small  stone  faster  and  far 
ther  than  a  large  one,  was  this : — that  by  di 
minishing  the  weight  of  the  ball  or  stone,  he 
would  be  able  to  increase  the  velocity  with 
which  he  could  throw  it  up. to  a  certain  limit. 


96         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Limit  of  velocity  in  throwing  with  the  arm. 


The  limit  would  be  the  utmost  degree  of  swift 
ness  that  he  could  give  to  the  motion  of  his 
arm.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  a  man  could 
throw  a  missile  weighing  three  ounces,  one  hun 
dred  yards.  That  would  be  equivalent  to 
throwing  one  of  one  ounce,  three  hundred 
yards.  If  now  he  has  power  to  do  the  former, 
he  will  have  power  enough  to  do  the  latter,  but 
he  can  not  make  this  power  available,  inasmuch 
as  he  can  not  give  his  arm  swiftness  of  motion 
enough ;  for  the  missile  will  pass  through  the 
air,  only  with  the  same  velocity  that  it  is  mov 
ing  in,  when  leaving  his  hand.  But  with  the 
bow  he  may  accomplish  it.  For  the  bow,  if  it 
is  perfectly  elastic,  may  be  drawn  up  with  a 
slow  motion,  but  it  will  straighten  itself  with  a 
quick  motion,  according  to  the  lightness  of  the 
arrow  with  which  it  is  loaded.  Thus  the  bow 
and  arrow  is  not  a  contrivance  to  increase  a 
man's  power  of  throwing  a  missile,  but  only  to 
enable  him  to  expend  the  power  which  he  has, 
in  giving  a  greater  velocity  to  missiles  of  small 
weight.  There  is  as  much  motion  given  in 
throwing  a  three  ounce  missile  one  hundred 
yards,  which  the  man  could  do  by  his  own 
strength,  as  in  throwing  the  one  ounce  missile 
three  hundred  yards,  which  he  does  by  bow  and 


ARCHERY.  97 


The  bow  creates  no  power.  Materials  of  which  bows  are  made. 

arrow.  But  the  latter  is  much  more  useful  in 
hunting  and  in  war,  for  the  marksmen  wish  to 
reach  the  object  at  the  greatest  possible  dis 
tance.  A  bow,  therefore,  must  not  be  consid 
ered  as  exercising  any  force  of  its  own,  but  only 
as  expending  in  a  peculiar  manner,  the  force 
which  the  archer  applies  to  it,  in  drawing  it. 
There  is,  besides  this,  one  other  advantage  in 
using  a  bow  rather  than  in  throwing  the  missile 
direct  from  the  hand,  and  that  is,  that  it  can  be 
aimed  better.  Practiced  archers  acquire  great 
skill  in  hitting  the  object  at  which  they  aim. 

The  bow  is  usually  made  of  some  kind  of 
tough  and  elastic  wood.  The  best  strings  are 
made  from  the  skins  of  wild  animals.  The  ar 
row  consists  of  three  parts — the  shaft,  the  head, 
and  the  barb.  The  shaft  in  the  best  Indian  ar 
row,  is  about  three  feet  long,  slender,  light,  and 
perfectly  straight.  The  head  is  made  of  heavi 
er  wood,  or  is  armed  with  a  rudely  carved 
stone.  The  savage  inhabitants  of  islands  em 
ploy  for  this  purpose,  the  sharp  teeth  of  some 
kinds  of  fish.  The  barb  consists  of  pieces  of 
feather,  so  attached  to  the  end  of  the  arrow 
which  is  applied  to  the  string,  as  to  cause  it  to 
pursue  a  steady  and  straight  course  in  its  flight 
through  the  air.  The  feather  end  being  more 


98         THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMOUY. 

Fiery  arrows.  Cross  bows.  Advantages  of  thgm. 

resisted  by  the  atmosphere,  is  kept  back,  and  the 
head  being  heavier,  moves  with  greater  momen 
tum  and  is  always  forward. 

The  arrow  has  been  found  a  very  deadly 
weapon  in  war.  Warlike  nations  in  ancient 
times,  acquired  great  dexterity  and  power  in 
its  use.  Scarcely  any  armor  was  sufficient  pro 
tection  against  it.  Sometimes  arrows  were 
poisoned.  And  not  unfrequently  the  arrow  was 
employed  as  the  Congreve  Rocket  now  is,  to 
fire  distant  buildings  by  loading  the  head  with 
tow,  or  with  some  other  combustible  substance 
that  would  communicate  a  spark  or  a  flame. 
They  were  accustomed,  too,  in  former  times,  to 
make  a  kind  of  arrow  with  holes  through  the 
head  of  it,  so  as  to  produce  a  whistling  sound 
when  they  were  discharged.  These  were  called 
whistling  arrows. 

The  Cross-Bow,  often  spoken  of  in  the 
histories  of  former  times,  was  substantially 
the  same  instrument  with  the  common  bow. 
It  had  in  addition  a  kind  of  stock,  attached 
to  the  bow,  by  which  the  arrow  was  made 
to  pass  along  a  groove,  which  served  to  give 
more  steadiness  and  certainty  to  the  aim. 
The  most  experienced  archers,  however,  always 
preferred  the  simple  bow.  In  accounts  of  an- 


ARCHERY.  99 


Forester  and  Marco  go  back  to  the  house.  The  bill. 


cient  battles,  frequent  mention  is  made  of  arch 
ers,  as  the  most  efficient  part  of  the  forces  em 
ployed  in  a  war.  Bullets,  however,  as  dis 
charged  from  guns,  in  modern  warfare,  are  infi 
nitely  more  deadly. 

It  is  very  probable  that  Forester  would  have 
explained  all  these  things  to  Marco,  had  he  not 
felt  in  haste  to  return  and  pay  for  the  cakes  and 
milk  that  he  and  Marco  had  eaten.  He  need 
not  have  been  uneasy  on  this  account,  as  the 
woman  at  the  house  would  not  have  suspected 
that  they  had  dishonestly  gone  away,  if  they  had 
remained  playing  about  the  stream  an  hour — 
so  confident  was  she  of  the  respectability  and 
trust-worthiness  of  her  guests,  from  their  ap 
pearance  and  manners. 

Forester  and  Marco,  however,  went  back  to 
the  house,  and  after  sitting  in  the  stoop  a  little 
while  longer,  and  drinking  some  more  of  the 
milk,  they  went  in  and  asked  what  there  was  to 
pay.  The  woman  said  ninepence  ;  which  For 
ester  said  meant  a  New  York  shilling.  They 
paid  her  the  money  and  then  went  away. 


100       THE    SPRIN G-F-I E -L b  .A R  M DRY. 

Rolling  machinery.  Turning.  The  lathe. 

CHAPTER   VII. 
TURNING    AND    BORING. 

MARCO  and  Forester  spent  two  or  three 
hours  in  rambling  through  the  water 
shops,  and  examining  the  various  processes 
which  were  going  on  in  them.  They  saw  the 
place  where  the  iron  bars  were  rolled  out,  and 
cut  into  lengths  suitable  for  forming  the  barrels  ; 
and  Marco  was  astonished  to  observe  with  what 
facility  the  metal  was  worked,  by  the  help  of 
the  ponderous  machinery.  This  was  done  at 
the  lowest  of  the  three  dams.  Here  was  also 
the  "  stocking  shop,"  as  the  workmen  called  it, 
where  the  stocks  of  the  guns  were  turned. 
Marco  was  very  much  interested  in  this  pro 
cess,  as,  in  fact,  all  visitors  are.  Turning  is 
performed  in  an  instrument  called  a  Lithe. 
The  work  to  be  turned  is  put  into  the  lathe,  and, 
by  means  of  wheels  and  machinery,  is  made  to 
revolve  rapidly.  While  it  is  thus  revolving,  the 
cutting  tool  is  held  against  it,  which  cuts  away 
the  wood,  or  other  material,  all  around  the  work. 
There  is  a  part  of  the  machine,  made  to  steady 


101 

iii^br#?3  and'  iron.  Tlia  Ciittmg^  tool.  Engine  lathes. 

the  toof  upon,  which  "is  called  the  rest.  All 
kinds  of  work,  which  are  round  in  one  direction, 
such  as  round  boxes,  knobs,  handles,  &c.,  can 
be  fashioned  in  this  manner  much  more  easily, 
and  much  more  correctly,  than  they  can  be  by 
hand.  Not  only  wood,  but  brass,  iron,  and 
steel,  can  be  turned  in  a  lathe.  The  tools  with 
which  the  harder  substances  are  turned,  are 
ground  to  a  more  obtuse  angle,  though  equally 
sharp  at  the  edge  ;  and  they  are,  of  course,  so 
adjusted,  as  to  cut  off  only  a  small  shaving  at  a 
time.  Where  the  iron  or  brass  work,  which  is 
to  be  turned,  is  very  heavy,  not  only  must  the 
material  be  made  to  revolve  by  machinery,  but 
the  tool  must  be  screwed  firmly  into  the  rest,  as 
the  strength  of  a  man  would  not  be  sufficient  to 
hold  it.  The  rest,  with  the  tool  screwed  into 
it,  is  made  to  move  slowly  along,  so  as  to  cut 
the  metal  away  regularly,  from  one  end  of  the 
work  toward  the  other.  Such  a  lathe  as  this, 
is  called  an  engine  lathe. 

Marco  saw  several  engine  lathes.  There 
were  three  or  four  in  one  room,  for  turning  the 
gun-barrels.  Marco  watched  the  tool,  as  it 
moved  slowly  along  the  barrel,  with  a  small 
shaving  of  iron  running  out  continually  from  its 
edge,  as  the  barrel  turned  over  constantly 


102      THE    SPRINGFIELD   ARMORY. 

Cooling  tho  tool.  Necessity  for  this. 

against  it.  There  was  a  little  stream  of  cold 
water,  which  fell  all  the  time  upon  the  point  of 
the  tool.  It  came  from  a  little  pipe,  suspended 
over  the  work.  The  pipe  was  connected  with 
a  small  flexible  tube,  about  three  feet  long, 
which  came  down  from  a  long  metal  pipe,  which 
passed  across  the  room  overhead,  and  contained 
a  constant  supply  of  water.  The  water  in  this 
pipe  was  raised,  as  Forester  supposed,  by  a 
pump  from  the  mill-stream.  The  end  of  the 
little  pipe  over  the  work  was  attached  to  the 
machinery,  so  that  it  moved  along  with  the  rest, 
and  thus  always  delivered  its  little  stream  of 
water  directly  upon  the  edge  of  the  tool,  and 
upon  the  part  of  the  iron  which  the  tool  was 
cutting.  The  flexible  tube,  or  hose,  as  the 
workmen  called  it,  allowed  the  pipe  to  be  car 
ried  in  this  manner,  along  the  barrel,  from  one 
end  to  the  other,  so  as  to  pour  the  water  con 
tinually  upon  the  point  where  it  was  needed. 

Marco  wanted  to  know  what  the  stream  of 
water  was  for ;  and  Forester  told  him  that  it 
was  to  keep  the  edge  of  the  tool  cool.  The 
force  of  friction,  produced  by  cutting  so  hard  a 
material  as  iron,  would  soon  heat  the  tool,  and 
t?ke  the  temper  out  of  the  steel — and  then,  the 
edge,  being  softened,  would  be  immediately 


TURNING    AND    BORING.  103 

The  iron  shavings.  Called  turnings. 

worn  away.  In  fact,  Marco  observed,  in  many 
other  instances,  that  such  streams  of  water  were 
made  to  fall  upon  the  work,  where  the  cutting 
tool  \vas  exposed  to  heavy  friction,  in  order  to 
keep  it  cool. 

The  shavings  cut  off  at  each  of  the  lathes 
where  the  barrels  were  turned,  fell  into  a  box 
beneath.  The  workmen  told  Forester  that 
these  turnings  were  all  worked  up  into  solid  iron 
again,  and  used  for  making  more  barrels. 

"  I  shouldn't  think  that  would  be  worth 
while,"  said  Marco. 

"  Why  not  ?"  asked  Forester. 

"  Because,"  said  Marco,  "  they  can  only  make 
a  very  little  iron, — such  thin  shavings." 

"  We  call  them  turnings,"  said  the  workman. 
"  They  amount  to  a  great  quantity.  In  fact,  in 
finishing  a  gun-barrel,  we  take  off  more  than 
we  leave  ;  so  that  if  the  trimmings  and  scraps 
were  thrown  away,  more  than  one  half  the  iron 
would  be  wasted." 

Forester,  as  well  as  Marco,  was  surprised  to 
hear  this  statement^but,  on  more  particular  in 
quiry,  they  were  told  that  the  barrel,  in  the 
rough  form,  weighed  about  ten  pounds  and  a 
half,  and  that,  when  finished,  it  weighed  only 
four  pounds  ;  so  that  considerably  more  than 


104       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Grinding  the  barrels.  Monstrous  grindstone. 

one  half  the  quantity  of  material  was  cut  away 
in  the  process  of  finishing. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  processes  which 
Marco  saw,  was  the  grinding  of  the  barrels  after 
shey  had  been  turned.  It  seems  that  although 
the  tool  by  which  the  barrel  is  turned,  is  held 
and  moved  by  machinery,  which  machinery 
remains  precisely  the  same  for  a  great  many 
different  barrels — still  the  barrels  are  not  pre 
cisely  alike  when  they  come  from  the  lathe. 
Some  will  be  a  very  little  thicker  or  thinner  in 
some  parts  than  others.  Then,  besides,  the  tool 
does  not  leave  the  iron  perfectly  smooth,  for,  as 
it  moves  slowly  along  at  the  same  time  that  the 
iron  revolves,  it  cuts  in  a  spiral  direction,  lound 
and  round  the  iron,  and  leaves  the  work  marked 
with  a  sort  of  spiral  depression,  left  by  the  form 
of  the  edge  of  the  tool  This  has  to  be  ground 
away,  in  order  to  make  the  surface  of  the  barrel 
smooth  and  uniform  throughout. 

Now  the  manner  in  which  it  is  effected,  is 
this.  An  enormous  grindstone,  five  or  six  feet 
in  diameter,  is  made  to  revolve  with  great  ve 
locity,  and  a  stream  of  water  pours  constantly 
upon  it  from  a  pipe  above.  This  water  would 
fly  in  all  directions  from  the  stone,  on  account 
of  what  is  called  the  centrifugal  force,  produced 


TURNING    AND    BORING.  105 

Contrivances.  Mode  of  holding  the  barrel  on  the  stone. 

by  the  rapid  revolution  of  the  stone,  were  it  not 
prevented  by  inclosing  the  stone  in  a  box,  which 
confines  the  water.  In  front  of  the  stone,  and 
opposite  the  middle  of  it,  there  is  a  small  open 
ing  through  the  box,  large  enough  to  admit  the 
gun-barrel,  and  when  it  is  in,  there  is  a  lever 
which  may  be  pressed  against  it,  to  crowd  it 
hard  against  the  stone.  The  end  of  this  lever, 
which  is  a  smooth  iron  bar,  passes  out  in  such 
a  direction,  as  to  come  behind  the  workman,  as 
he  stands  in  the  proper  position  for  holding  the 
barrel  ;  and  thus,  while  he  holds  the  barrel  in 
his  hands,  he  can  lean  against  this  lever,  and 
press  the  barrel  with  great  force  against  the 
stone. 

It  is  very  evident,  however,  that  if  the  barrel 
was  held  at  rest  in  this  position,  while  the  stone 
was  rapidly  revolving,  that  it  would  only  grind 
off  a  portion  of  it  from  one  side,  thus  spoiling, 
instead  of  improving  its  form.  In  order  to  pre 
vent  this,  and  to  grind  it  on  all  sides  alike,  the 
workman  has  an  iron  rod,  with  a  crank  handle 
upon  one  end  of  it.  This  rod  he  runs  into  the 
barrel  before  he  applies  it  to  the  stone,  and 
drives  it  in  hard  ;  and  as  the  rod  is  made  to  fit 
the  barrel,  it  holds  it  firmly  by  the  friction. 
Then,  by  means  of  the  crank  at  the  end,  he  can 


106       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Velocity  of  the  stone.  Sparks. 

turn  the  rod,  and  with  it  the  barrel,  and  thus 
bring  all  parts  of  the  barrel,  in  rapid  succession, 
in  contact  with  the  stone.  Thus,  while  the 
grinder  was  crowding  back  upon  the  lever,  in 
order  to  press  the  barrel  against  the  stone,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  turning  the  barrel  con 
stantly,  by  means  of  the  crank,  and  thus  the 
superfluous  metal  was  ground  off  equally  from 
all  sides  of  the  barrel. 

So  great  was  the  velocity  of  the  wheel,  and 
the  force  with  which  the  barrel  was  pressed 
against  it,  that  Marco  could  see,  by  looking  in 
at  the  place  where  the  bar  was  inserted,  that 
long  sparks  and  streams  of  fire,  struck  out  by 
the  violence  of  the  friction,  were  continually 
darting  down  among  the  streams  of  water,  which 
were  descending  all  the  time  from  the  stone. 
It  required  but  a  very  few  minutes  to  grind  the 
barrel  to  its  proper  shape.  The  workman  had 
a  gage,  or  instrument  for  measuring  the  size 
of  the  barrel,  at  short  distances,  along  its  whole 
length.  While  grinding  it  he  frequently  drew 
it  out  to  apply  his  gage,  until  he  had  reduced 
it  to  the  proper  size  at  every  part. 

In  the  same  room  with  this  machinery,  there 
was  another  grindstone,  with  grooves  in  the 
circumference.  This  was  used  for  grinding 


TURNING  AND  BORING.          107 

Grinding  bayonets. 

bayonets.  The  edges  of  the  bayonets  fitted 
into  these  grooves.  The  man  who  ground 
them,  sat  on  a  seat  at  one  end,  and  held  the 
bayonet  which  he  was  grinding  against  the 
stone.  It  appeared  to  be  hard  and  disagree 
able  work.  The  stone  revolved  with  great 
velocity,  and  so  great  was  the  friction,  that  a 
long  stream  of  sparks  flew  out  from  the  bayo 
net,  wherever  it  was  applied  to  the  stone,  al 
though  a  stream  of  cold  water  from  above  was 
kept  constantly  pouring  upon  the  place.  The 
workman  said  that  these  monstrous  stones, 
were  very  dangerous.  In  the  first  place,  the 
stones  themselves,  in  their  original  structure, 
are  not  very  strong,  and  in  order  to  fasten 
them  securely  upon  their  axles,  they  are  wedg 
ed  up  very  tightly.  The  effect  of  this  is  to 
strain  them  a  great  deal,  so  as  to  make  them 
•almost  ready  to  burst  before  they  are  put  in 
motion.  Then  when  the  water  comes  to  be 
poured  on,  the  stone  is  softened  and  weak 
ened  still  more  by  the  action  of  it,  for  the 
stone  must  be  kept  deluged  with  water,  while 
they  are  grinding  with  it,  in  order  to  pre 
vent  the  friction  from  heating  the  steel,  and 
taking  the  temper  out. 

Thus  it  happened,  they  said,  that  the  stones  not 


108      THE    SPRINGFIELD   ARMORY. 


Bursting  of  the  stoues.  Mode  of  preventing  this.  Polishing. 

unfrequently  flew  in  pieces,  on  account  of  the 
swiftness  of  the  rotary  motion,  and,  in  that  case, 
some  of  the  fragments  would  be  sometimes 
driven  through  the  roof  of  the  building,  or,  per 
haps,  kill  the  workman  seated  at  it.  He  said, 
however,  that  they  had  now  an  improved  mode 
of  securing  the  grindstone  to  the  axle,  by  which 
this  danger  was  very  much  lessened.  In  for 
mer  times,  they  would  put  the  stone  upon  the 
axle,  and  then  secure  it  in  its  place,  by  driving 
wedges  in  between  the  axle  and  the  stone, 
which,  of  course,  tended  to  split  the  stone,  or, 
at  least,  to  aid  the  centrifugal  force  in  splitting 
it.  But  now  the  stone  was  secured  by  large 
plates  of  iron  on  each  side,  which  were  forced, 
by  means  of  wedges,  against  the  sides  of  the 
stone,  thus  securing  the  stone  in  a  manner  rath 
er  calculated  to  bind  it  together,  than  to  force 
it  open. 

From  the  grinding  room,  they  went  into  the 
boring  and  polishing  room,  though  they  found 
that  the  boring  of  the  barrels,  in  fact,  preceded 
the  turning ;  and  in  order,  therefore,  to  have 
seen  the  processes  in  their  regular  order,  they 
should  have  seen  the  boring  first,  then  the  turn 
ing,  and,  finally,  the  polishing.  When  Marco 


TURNING    AND    BORING.  109 

Boring.  Machinery  for  boring. 

saw  the  boring  machinery,  and  was  told  what 
it  was  for,  he  said, 

"  But  I  thought  that  the  barrels  were  made 
hollow  at  the  forge." 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "they  are  hollow,  but 
they  are  necessarily  left  in  a  rough  state,  at  the 
forge.  The  interior  has  to  be  bored  out  and 
polished,  so  as  to  make  it  smooth  and  true 
throughout." 

Marco  advanced  with  Forester  to  the  ma 
chinery  by  which  the  barrels  were  bored.  They 
found  that  there  was  a  solid  iron  frame,  like  a 
bedstead,  a  little  more  than  twice  as  long  as  the 
barrel,  on  which  were  bars,  and  wheels,  and 
rods,  and  systems  of  rack-work,  too  complica 
ted  for  Marco  to  understand.  In  the -midst  of 
all  the  machinery,  there  were  one  or  two  bar 
rels,  writhing,  as  if  in  pain,  but  neither  revolv 
ing  nor  advancing.  A  long  rod  issued  from 
each,  and  these  rods  were  attached  to  wheels  at 
the  top  of  the  frame.  Marco  perceived  that 
these  rods  were  revolving,  and  that  the  same 
machinery  which  caused  them  to  revolve,  was 
drawing  them  forward  out  of  the  barrel.  He 
watched  one  of  them  until  it  came  out,  when  he 
perceived  that  there  was  a  sort  of  auger  upon 
the  end  of  it,  by  which  it  had  bored  its  way 


110      THE    SPRINGFIELD   ARMORY. 

The  auger.  Forester  and  Marco  look  throxigh  a  barrel. 

through.     The  man  then  took  another  similar 

o 

rod,  with  an  auger  upon  the  end  of  it,  like  the 
first,  only  it  was  a  little  larger ;  and,  running  it 
through  the  barrel,  he  attached  the  end  of  it  to 
the  proper  machinery,  at  the  head  of  the  frame, 
and  then  set  the  works  in  motion  again,  by 
which  the  auger  was  drawn  through  slowly,  but 
with  great  force,  turning  round  and  round  all 
the  time,  so  as  to  bore  its  way  through, — -the 
barrel  writhing  under  the  operation  as  before. 

On  another  frame,  at  a  little  distance  from 
this,  other  barrels  were  placed,  and  a  different 
instrument,  being  of  the  form  of  a  square  steel 
rod,  with  sharp  edges,  was  drawn  through  it, 
revolving  swiftly  all  the  time.  This  smoothed 
the  interior,  and  removed  all  the  marks  left  by 
the  auger.  Near  these  works  there  were  some 
of  the  barrels  that  were  finished, — that  is,  so  far 
as  the  bore  was  concerned,  and  the  workman 
held  up  one  of  them  for  Forester  to  look  through. 
Forester  seemed  much  pleased  with  the  appear 
ance  of  it,  and  held  it  for  Marco.  Marco 
found,  to  his  astonishment,  that  the  interior  was 
highly  polished,  reflecting  a  high  luster,  and  ex 
hibiting  a  curious  succession  of  concentric 
rings  of  great  brightness.  This  resulted  from 
some  optical  illusion,  which  even  Forester  said 


TURNING    AND    BORING.  Ill 

Appearance.  They  work  from  within  out. 

he  could  not  explain.  The  workman  said  he  did 
not  know  what  caused  the  appearance  of  rings, 
as  there  was  nothing,  in  reality,  corresponding 
to  them  in  the  barrels — the  bore  being  perfectly 
uniform  and  smooth  throughout  the  interior. 
The  outsides  of  these  barrels  were  black  and 
rough,  just  as  they  came  from  the  forge.  They 
had  not  yet  been  turned  and  ground. 

Marco  wished  to  know  why  they  finished  the 
inside  first. 

"  That  is  a  general  principle,  in  turning," 
said  Forester,  "  I  believe, — to  work  from  the 
inside  outward.  If  they  should  first  turn  and 
polish  the  outside,  and  then  undertake  to  bore  it 
out,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  get  the  bore 
exactly  in  the  center." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  and  suppose  it  were 
not  exactly  in  the  center  ?" 

"  Then,"  said  Forester,  "  the  barrel  would  be 
of  greater  thickness  on  one  side  than  on  the 
other,  and  it  would  be  in  danger  of  bursting  on 
the  thinnest  side." 

"  But,"  said  Marco,  "  they  might  make  it  so 
thick,  that  even  the  thinnest  side  would  be 
strong  enough." 

"  True,"  replied  Forester,  "  but  then  all  the 
extra  thickness  on  the  other  side  would  he  of  no 


THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Guns  thicker  at  the  breech.  Explanation. 


use.  It  would  only  add  to  the  weight  of  the 
gun,  without  being  of  any  service  ;  for  the  gun 
could  riot  be  charged  any  more  heavily  than 
the  strength  of  the  thinnest  part  would  bear. 
Therefore,  to  combine  lightness  with  strength, 
in  the  greatest  degree,  it  is  necessary  to  have 
the  thickness  of  the  barrel  the  same  all  around, 
and  to  have  this  thickness  diminish  toward  the 
muzzle,  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  diminution 
in  the  force  of  the  gunpowder,  as  the  ball  moves 
along  from  one  end  to  the  other.  Then  the 
barrel  would  be  equally  strong  throughout,  and 
not  more  likely  to  burst  in  one  place  than  in 
another." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Marco,  "  I  admit  that ;  but 
I  don't  see  why  they  can  not  finish  the  outside 
first,  and  then  make  the  bore  to  correspond  with 
that,  as  well  as  to  finish  the  bore  first,  and 
then  turn  the  outside  to  correspond  with  the 
bore." 

"It  is  because,"  said  Forester,  "  they  can't 
control  the  boring  as  well  as  they  can  the  turn 
ing.  The  boring  tool  must  be  long  and  slen 
der,  in  order  to  be  passed  through  the  barrel, 
and  of  course  it  will  easily  spring,  and  yield 
somewhat.  If  the  outside  of  a  cylinder  were  to 
be  turned  true,  and  fixed  precisely  in  the  center 


TURNING    AND    BORING. 


The  drill.  Forester's  recoiling. 

of  the  motion  of  the  lathe,  and  then  if  a  drill 
could  be  made  absolutely  inflexible,  it  would 
run  through  the  center.  But  it  is  impossible  to 
realize  these  conditions." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  realizing 
conditions,"  said  Marco. 

"  Why,  making  the  circumstances  such  as 
I  have  supposed.  The  drill  will  yield  and 
spring  a  little,  especially  if  the  cylinder  is  al 
ready  hollow,  and  is  only  to  be  bored  out  more, 
and  made  true.  The  inequalities  in  the  interi 
or  will  force  the  drill  or  auger  to  one  side  or 
the  other,  and  thus  render  it  impossible  to  con 
trol  the  boring.  But  after  the  boring  is  fin 
ished,  then  the  barrel  may  be  set  in  the  lathe, 
and  chocked  by  the  bore." 

"  Chocked  by  the  bore  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "that  is,  the  pivots  on 
which  it  turns  may  pass  into  the  bore,  and  as 
the  pivots  are  precisely  in  the  center  of  the 
motion  of  the  lathe,  the  bore  will  be  so  too,  and 
then  the  outside  can  be  turned  to  correspond. 
Because  you  see  that  on  the  outside  there  is 
plenty  of  room,  and  the  tool  can  be  made  very 
massive  and  solid,  so  as  to  have  no  sensible 
spring.  The  reason  why  the  boring  tool  can 
not.  be  made  inflexible,  is,  that  it  must  be  long 


114       THE   SPRINGFIELD    ARMOKY. 

Curious  machinery.  Curious  and  complicated  motion, 

and  slender  in  order  to  pass  into  the  bore. 
There  is  not  room  for  metal  enough  to  make  it 
firm  and  unyielding.  Therefore,  in  turning,  it 
is  generally  best  to  finish  the  hollow  part  first, 
and  then  to  make  the  exterior  to  conform  to  it." 
At  this  moment  Marco's  attention  was  at 
tracted  by  a  curious  appearance  at  one  end  of 
the  room,  and  he  advanced  with  Forester  to  see 
what  it  was.  It  proved  to  be  the  machinery 
for  polishing  the  outsides  of  the  barrels  after  they 
were  ground.  It  appeared  that  the  barrels  af 
ter  being  bored,  as  Marco  had  seen,  were  carried 
into  the  other  shop  to  be  turned  and  ground  on 
the  outside,  and  were  then  brought  back  to  be 
polished  in  this  shop  again.  There  were  two 
machines  for  polishing,  and  each  had  four  gun- 
barrels  in  it.  The  form  of  the  machine  was  an 
upright  iron  frame,  and  the  barrels  were  placed 
in  it  in  a  perpendicular  position.  The  upper 
ends  were  attached  to  wheels,  by  which  they 
were  kept  in  constant  revolution,  and  these 
wheels  were  also  attached  to  a  beam  which  as 
cended  and  descended  continually,  like  the 
beam  over  the  piston  rod  of  a  steam-engine,  or 
that  which  carries  the  saw  in  a  saw-mill.  Thus 
the  barrels  were  alternately  drawn  up  and 
pushed  down,  continually  revolving  at  the  same 


TURNING    AND    BORING.  115 

Polishing  the  screws. 

time.  They  passed  in  this  manner  between  a 
set  of  leather  cushions,  covered  with  oil  and 
emery, — a  fine  powder  used  for  polishing. 
These  cushions  were  pressed  together  by 
springs,  with  the  barrels  between  them,  and 
thus  all  the  roughness  of  the  iron,  left  by  the 
grindstone,  was  gradually  worn  away,  and  the 
barrels  came  out  at  last  highly  polished. 

The  smaller  parts  of  the  musket,  such  as  the 
screws,  bands,  and  parts  of  the  lock,  were  pol 
ished  in  a  different  manner, — by  holding  them 
one  by  one  against  wheels,  revolving  with  great 
velocity,  as  Forester  had  said.  There  were  a 
great  many  of  these  wheels  in  one  of  the  rooms, 
with  workmen  seated  before  them  polishing 
small  pieces  of  steel  work.  One  of  the  work 
men  said  that  the  wheels  revolved  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  hundred  times  per  minute.  This 
would  be  about  twenty  times  in  a  second. 
Marco  tried  to  whirl  his  hand  around  in  the  air 
as  swiftly  as  he  could,  but  he  thought  that  he 
did  not  succeed  in  making  more  than  two  or 
three  in  a  second.  Long  streams  of  sparks 
issued  from  the  emery  wheels  when  the  steel 
was  brought  in  contact  with  them. 


116       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Testing  the  work.  Taking  a  sui. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
INSPECTION. 

IN  an  apartment  connected  with  one  of  the 
water  shops,  Marco  and  Forester  saw  an 
operation  going  on  which  was  different,  in  its 
very  nature,  from  all  which  they  had  seen  be 
fore.  It  was  the  operation  of  testing  the  work 
after  it  was  finished.  The  testing  which  they 
saw,  was  that  of  the  bayonet.  A  pile  of  bay 
onets  lay  before  a  workman  on  a  bench,  and  he 
was  trying  them,  to  see  whether  they  were  of 
the  proper  temper  and  strength. 

The  manner  in  which  he  tested  the  bayonets, 
was  this.  He  put  them,  one  by  one,  upon  a 
gun,  and  then,  striking  the  point  a  little  into  the 
floor,  he  would  spring  it  forcibly  one  way  and 
the  other,  to  see  if  it  would  bear  the  necessary 
strain.  By  this  operation,  the  bayonet  was 
bent  a  little  to  one  side  or  to  the  other.  This 
was  called  taJnng  a  set.  A  piece  of  steel,  or 
iron,  or  brass,  or  any  similar  metal,  may  be  bent 
a  little  out  of  its  natural  position,  and  it  will 
spring  back  again,  so  as  to  take  precisely  the 


NSPECTION.  117 


Elasticity.  Tempering  saws. 

form  which  it  had  before.  If  it  is  bent,  how 
ever,  a  little  too  far,  it  will  not  come  entirely 
back,  but  will  remain  bent.  This  is  called 
taking  a  set.  Steel,  highly  tempered,  may  be 
bent  much  more,  without  taking  a  set,  than 
brass  or  iron.  This  makes  it  suitable  for 
springs.  Its  elasticity  is  so  great,  that  it  will 
restore  itself  entirely  from  a  very  considerable 
flexion. 

The  more  highly  tempered  steel  is,  the  less 
easy  it  is  to  make  it  set,  but  then,  the  more 
brittle  it  becomes.  A  file  is  very  highly  tem 
pered,  and  it  can  not  be  set  at  all.  If  sprung  a 
very  little  from  its  proper  position,  it  will  spring 
back  again  entirely.  If  sprung  more,  it  will 
break, — but  it  can  not  be  bent  so  as  to  remain 
bent. 

A  saw,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  tempered  so 
highly,  and  it  may  accordingly  be  bent  so  as  to 
take  a  set.  Saws  often  get  so  bent,  by  being 
carelessly  used,  and  thus  they  become  crooked. 
But  by  being  thus  tempered  not  so  high,  they 
can  not  be  so  easily  broken.  A  saw  will  not 
snap  off  suddenly  like  a  file,  but,  bent  beyond 
the  point  from  which  the  steel  is  capable  of  re 
storing  itself,  the  particles  will  yield  a  little,  and 
thus  it  will  take  a  set.  Now,  though  it  is  an 


118       THE    SPKINGPIELD   ARMORY. 


The  proper  temper  for  a  bayonet. 


evil  for  a  saw  to  take  a  set,  since  it  makes  it 
crooked,  it  is  a  greater  evil  for  it  to  break  in 
two, — and  therefore  it  is  tempered  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  bend  a  little,  rather  than  break. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  bayonet.  It  is  desir 
able  to  have  it  elastic, — but  then  it  must  not  be 
brittle.  The  workman  tested  the  strength  of 
the  bayonet,  by  springing  it  forcibly  with  the 
point  upon  the  floor,  in  the  manner  which  has 
been  already  explained.  He  tested  its  elasticity 
in  another  way,  which  seemed  to  Marco  very 

ingenious.  There 
was  a  place  fitted 
at  the  end  of  the 
bench,  where  he 
could  rest  the  neck 
of  the  bayonet  up- 
ft^riLLll  on  a  solid  support, 
which  was  used  as 
a  sort  of  fulcrum. 
The  point  of  the 
bayonet  was  then 
inserted  into  a  loop 
formed  at  the  upper 
end  of  a  wire,  which 

had  attached  to  the  lower  end  of  it  a  heavy 
weight  of  lead.  Then,  by  bearing  down  upon 


TESTING. THE  BAYONETS. 


INSPECTION.  119 

The  test.  A  fracture.  Flaw  in  the  iron. 

the  end  of  the  gun,  the  lead  was  lifted,  the  whole 
weight  of  it  resting  upon  the  point  of  the  bay 
onet.  This  weight  was  so  heavy  that  it  bent 
the  bayonet  down  an  inch  or  two,  and  when  it 
was  let  down  again,  the  bayonet  would  spring 
back  nearly  into  its  place,  but  not  quite.  It  set 
about  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  The  man  who  was 
examining  the  bayonets,  said,  that  if  they  did 
not  set  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  lifting 
such  a  weight,  they  were  considered  as  passing 
a  satisfactory  trial  in  respect  to  their  elasticity. 
After  watching  the  process  of  testing  the 
bayonets  in  this  manner,  for  some  time,  the 
workman  opened  a  box  which  was  under  the 
bench,  and  showed  them  some  which  had  been 
condemned.  One  was  broken  in  two  in  the 
middle,  not  having  had  strength  sufficient  to 
bear  the  violent  strain  which  the  workman  had 
given  it,  with  the  point  upon  the  floor.  Marco 
took  up  the  fragments  and  examined  the  frac 
tured  surface,  to  see  if  he  could  discover  the 
cause  of  its  breaking.  There  was  a  small  dis 
colored  spot,  visible  near  one  edge,  which  was 
caused  by  a  flaw  in  the  iron.  Another  bayonet 
was  whole,  and  Marco  could  not  see  why  it 
was  condemned.  The  workman,  however, 
pointed  out  to  him  an  imperfection  in  the  cor- 


120       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Work  by  the  piece.  Paying  by  the  time, 

ner,  where  the  blade  of  the  bayonet  joins  the 
neck. 

"  Whose  loss  is  it,"  said  Forester,  "  if  the 
blade  is  condemned  ?" 

"  If  it  is  owing  to  the  workmanship/3  said  the 
man,  "it  is  the  loss  of  the  man  who  made  it. 
But  if  it  arises  from  any  flaw  in  the  iron,  he 
does  not  lose  it." 

"And  is  most  of  the  work  done  by  the 
piece  ?"  said  Forester. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  man  ;  "  and  if  it  does  not 
stand  inspection,  the  man  loses  it." 

Marco  did  not  understand  this  conversation 
very  well,  and  he  asked  an  explanation  of  For 
ester  after  they  had  left  the  shop.  Forester 
told  him  that  paying  by  the  piece,  was  paying 
in  proportion  to  the  work  done.  "  For  instance, 
if  a  man  is  forging  bayonets,"  said  he,  "paying 
him  by  the  piece,  is  giving  him  a  certain  sum 
for  every  bayonet  he  makes." 

"  And  what  other  way  is  there  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  Why,  they  can  be  paid  by  the  time,"  said 
Forester, — "  so  much  for  a  day's  work,  for  ex 
ample,  whether  they  accomplish  more  or  less." 

"  I  think  it  is  better  to  pay  by  the  piece,"  said 
Marco. 

"  Certainly,"    replied    Forester,    "  when    the 


INSPECTION.  121 


Measurement  of  work.  Mode  of  paying  workmen. 

work  is  of  such  a  kind  that  it  can  be  accurately 
measured." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  and  can  not  all  work 
be  accurately  measured  ?" 

"  No,"  replied  Forester  ;  "  for  instance, 
mending  the  roads  in  the  spring,  after  they  have 
been  washed  by  the  rains,  can  not  be  measured. 
There  will  be  much  more  injury  done  in  some 
places  than  in  others,  and  the  facilities  for  get 
ting  materials  and  repairing  the  injuries,  will 
vary  much  in  different  parts  of  the  road.  Then, 
besides,  there  would  be  no  way  of  deciding 
when  the  work  was  properly  done.  A  very 
accurate  test  of  the  elasticity  of  a  bayonet  can 
be  applied,  by  requiring  that  it  should  lift  a  cer 
tain  weight,  without  setting  more  than  a  quarter 
of  an  inch.  But  there  would  be  no  mode  of 
ascertaining  precisely  how  much  should  be  done 
to  the  road.  Therefore,  persons  employed  in 
mending  the  roads,  must  always  be  paid  by 
time. 

"  In  almost  all  kinds  of  manufacturing  estab 
lishments,  however,"  continued  Forester,  "  they 
can  estimate  most  of  the  work  exactly,  and,  ac 
cordingly,  they  contract  with  the  laborers  to 
pay  in  proportion  to  the  work  done.  This  is 
altogether  the  best  mode,  and  they  always  en- 


122       THE    SPRENGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Government  works. 

deavor  to  adopt  it,  especially  in  all  great  estab 
lishments,  where  the  men  would  be  very  likely 
to  be  idle  if  they  were  paid  by  the  time.  It 
would  be  so  more  particularly  in  a  government 
establishment,  like  the  Springfield  armory." 

"  Is  the  Springfield  armory  a  government 
establishment  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forester,  "  it  all  belongs  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  It  is  in 
tended  solely  for  manufacturing  muskets  for 
their  armies.  The  government  have  built  the 
shops,  and  put  in  the  machinery,  and  they  em 
ploy  the  workmen  to  do  the  work,  and  pay  them 
all  according  to  the  work  they  do,  provided  it 
is  done  so  well  as  to  pass  inspection." 

"  Why  is  it  more  important,"  asked  Marco, 
"  for  a  government  to  employ  its  men  to  work 
in  this  way,  than  for  a  private  individual  ?" 

"  Because,"  replied  Forester,  "  if  a  private 
individual  employs  persons  to  work  for  him,  and 
is  going  to  pay  them  by  the  time,  he  can  over 
see  them  himself,  and  know  whether  they  are 
industrious  or  not.  But  a  government  can  not 
do  this.  It  can  not  be  present  itself,  but  must 
act  through  agents  ;  and  agents  are  never  so 
faithful  as  principals.  Therefore,  governments 
and  corporations  always  avoid  paying  men  by 


INSPECTJON.  123 


Corporations.  Irregular  work. 

time,  if  it  is  possible  to  systematize  the  work  so 
as  to  measure  it,  and  to  pay  in  proportion  to  the 
work  done." 

"  What  are  corporations  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Where  a  large  number  of  men  combine  to 
carry  on  any  great  enterprise  in  common,  they 
form  an  association,  called  a  corporation.  Now 
a  corporation,  like  a  government,  can  not  be 
present  to  oversee  its  work.  They  must  depend 
upon  agents,  and  they,  therefore,  are  very  re 
luctant  to  employ  men  and  pay  them  by  the 
time.  Railroads  are  commonly  made  by  cor 
porations,  and  the  directors  are  very  unwilling 
to  pay  laborers  by  the  time  that  they  are  em 
ployed.  A  great  deal  of  the  work  which  the 
laborers  do,  is  grading  the  road,  which  is  a  very 
difficult  kind  of  work  to  measure,  because  it 
consists  of  digging  away,  or  filling  up  very 
irregular  pieces  of  ground  ;  still  they  take  pains 
to  measure  it,  and  employ  men  to  do  it,  by  pay 
ing  them  so  much  per  square  yard  for  all  that 
they  remove." 

"  Is  there  any  other  kind  of  work,"  said  Mar 
co,  "  which  can  not  be  estimated,  so  that  people 
have  to  pay  by  the  time,  as  they  do  for  mending 
the  roads  ?" 

"  Yes,"    said    Forester,   "  all    kinds   of  farm 


124       THE    SPRINGFIELD    AKMOKY. 


Farmers'  work. 


Irregularity  of  i'arming  work. 


work.  If  a  farmer  hires  men  to  work  upon  his 
farm,  he  pays  them  by  the  time  they  labor, — by 
the  day,  the  month,  or  the  year.  He  can  not 
pay  by  the  work  done,  for  the  work  is  so  ir 
regular  and  variable,  that  it  can  not  be  measured 
or  estimated.'' 

"  Why,  he  might  pay  them  so  much,"  said 
Marco,  "  for  hoeing  so  many  rows  of  corn,  or 
for  plowing  so  much  land." 

"  No,"  said  Forester,  "  for  the  work  of  hoeing 
and  plowing  will  vary  exceedingly,  according 
as  the  ground  is  hard  or  mellow,  or  more  or  less 
encumbered  with  stones  and  weeds.  Then  a 
great  proportion  of  the  other  work  on  a  farm,  it 

would  be  still  more 
difficult  to  meas 
ure  ;  for  instance, 
digging  out  great 
stones  to  clear  a 
field.  A  farmer 
might  set  his  hands 
at  work  to  dig  out 
a  stone  without 
knowing  at  all 
whether  it  would 
take  an  hour  or 
three  to  accom- 


FARMER'S  WORK. 


INSPECTION. 


Farmer^'  management.  Cost  of  machinery. 

plish  it.  Therefore,  a  farmer,  if  he  hires  a  la 
borer,  must  pay  by  the  time.  This  is  one  rea 
son  why  men  can  not  well  carry  on  a  farm  to 
advantage  by  hired  labor.  They  can  not  meas 
ure  the  labor,  and  pay  for  it,  according  to  the 
amount  of  work  which  is  done.  Still,  the  far 
mer  has  one  great  advantage,  which  the  corpo 
ration  has  not.  He  can  work  with  his  men  and 
oversee  them  all  the  time  ;  and  when  working 
with  him,  in  his  presence,  they  are  much  more 
industrious  and  faithful.  But  if  a  man  under 
takes  to  manage  a  farm  by  hired  laborers,  with 
out  laboring  with  them  himself,  the  difficulty 
becomes  very  great.  He  almost  always  fails  in 
his  experiment." 

"  I  saw  one  man,"  said  Marco,  "  in  one  of  the 
shops,  who  was  making  little  screws.  They 
were  the  little  screws  used  in  making  the  lock. 
He  said  there  were  seven  different  operations 
to  be  performed  on  each  screw,  and  that  each 
one  had  a  separate  machine  for  performing  it ; 
so  that  it  took  seven  engines  to  make  one  little 
screw." 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "  and  not  unlikely  each 
engine  may  have  cost  a  hundred  dollars." 

"  And  there  was  the  forging,  besides,"  said 
Marco. 


126       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Advantage  of  uniformity. 


"  Yes,"  said  Forester  ;  '•'  so  that,  perhaps,  five 
hundred  or  a  thousand  dollars  may  be  invested 
in  machinery,  all  of  which  is  necessary  to  make 
one  screw.  This  would  be  an  expensive  way 
if  only  one  screw  was  required, — but  when 
they  have  so  many  to  make,  it  is  the  cheapest 
way,  because,  by  means  of  all  this  machinery, 
they  can  make  them  very  fast.  And  that  is  not 
the  only  advantage.  They  can  not  only  make 
them  fast,  but  by  being  made  in  machines,  they 
are  all  precisely  alike.  This  is  a  great  advan 
tage  ;  for  they  can  send  some  spare  screws  with 
muskets  when  they  go  into  the  army,  and  then, 
if  one  gets  lost  or  broken  in  any  lock,  they  can 
at  once  replace  it.  Any  one  of  the  spare  screws 
will  exactly  fit  the  place  of  the  lost  one." 

"  Or  if  two  locks  get  broken,"  said  Marco, 
"  in  different  places,  they  can  put  the  parts  of 
one  with  those  of  the  other,  and  so  get  one  good 
lock  out  of  the  two." 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester.  "  There  is,  however, 
one  inconvenience  in  having  machinery  to  make 
all  these  parts  of  the  musket,  and  that  is,  that 
they  can  not  make  any  change  in  the  pattern  of 
the  musket,  without  a  great  expense  ;  for  all 
machinery  which  was  adapted  to  making  the 
parts  according  to  the  old  pattern,  becomes 


INSPECTION. 


The  finishing  shops. 


useless,  and  they  must  construct  new  and  ex 
pensive  engines  to  correspond  with  the  new 
pattern.  So  it  becomes  a  great  work  to  intro 
duce  any  new  and  improved  modes  of  construc 
tion." 

During  this  conversation,  Marco  and  Fores 
ter  had  been  walking  slowly  along  toward  the 
high  land,  where  the  finishing  shops  of  the  ar 
mory  and  the  storehouses  were,  around  the 
great  square,  on  the  plain  above  Springfield,  as 
explained  in  the  third  chapter.  By  this  time 
these  buildings  appeared  in  sight,  and  our  two 
travelers  advanced  toward  them,  much  inter 
ested  to  know  what  new  objects  of  curiosity 
they  were  to  find  in  this  part  of  the  establish- 
ment. 


TIM:    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


The  forging  shops.  Curious  anvils. 

CHAPTER    IX. 
THE    ARSENAL. 

THE  first  building  to  which  Forester  con 
ducted  Marco,  at  this  part  of  the  works, 
was  near  the  north-west  corner  of  the  square. 
On  entering  it,  they  found  a  very  long,  spacious 
apartment,  with  a  double  row  of  forges  extend 
ing  through  the  middle  of  it.  The  floor  was 
paved  with  flat  stones.  The  walls  and  ceiling 
were  neatly  whitewashed.  Over  each  forge 
was  a  pair  of  blacksmith's  bellows.  There  were 
•men  working  at  several  of  the  forges,  and  For 
ester  and  Marco  advanced  to  see  what  they 
were  doing. 

Instead  of  the  simple  anvil  and  hammer,  used 
by  blacksmiths  for  common  work,  they  found 
that  much  more  complicated  apparatus  was 
used  here.  There  was  at  each  forge  a  large 
anvil,  but  the  surface,  instead  of  being  flat  and 
level,  as  usual  with  anvils,  had  upon  it  a  varie 
ty  of  depressions  and  perforations  ;  and  there 
were  also  by  the  side  of  each,  what  Marco  was 
disposed  to  call  little  anvils,  but  which  the 


THE    ARSE  N  A  K.  1  VJ(J 

Ht;ikes.  Operations.  The  jumper. 


workmen  told  him  were  called  stakes.  These 
stakes  had  excavations  and  depressions  sunk  in 
them,  of  various  irregular  forms,  the  use  of 
which  Marco  did  not  at  first  understand. 

At  the  first  forge  to  which  Marco  approached, 
a  workman  was  heating  the  end  of  a  long  iron 
rod.  When  it  was  heated,  he  put  it  over  one 
of  these  stakes,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  hot 
iron  would  lie  in  one  of  the  depressions.  There 
was  another  piece  of  steel  placed  over  the  stake, 
and  supported  in  a  peculiar  manner,  which 
could  be  struck  with  a  hammer  from  above, 
and  driven  down  upon  the  stake.  This  was 
called  a  jumper  ;  for  it  would  jump  up  in  a  cu 
rious  way  after  it  was  driven  down.  Now 
there  was  a  depression  in  the  under  side  of  the 
jumper,  corresponding  to  the  one  on  the  upper 
side  of  the  stake,  in  such  a  manner  that  when 
the  two  were  brought  together,  a  cavity  was 
left  between  them,  of  such  a  form  as  that  the 
piece  which  they  were  going  to  forge  would 
exactly  fit  into.  By  this  contrivance,  it  was 
easy  to  forge  the  most  irregular  parts  of  the 
gun-lock.  They  had  only  to  heat  the  end  of 
the  iron  rod,  and  insert  it  while  hot,  between 
the  stake  and  the  jumper.  Then  by  striking 
repeated  blows  upon  the  jumper  with  the  ham- 
I 


130      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Various  forgings.  Other  shops.  Gun-stocks. 

mer,  the  hot  metal  would  be  forced  into  the 
cavity  between  them,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
take  its  exact  form. 

In  some  cases  it  was  necessary  to  perform 
more  than  one  operation  upon  the  same  piece. 
One  part  would  be  formed  between  one  stake 
and  jumper,  and  then  it  would  be  heated  again, 
and  the  other  part  fashioned  by  another.  The 
stakes,  and  jumpers,  and  other  similar  appara 
tus,  were,  of  course,  all  different  at  the  different 
forges  ;  each  forge  being  designed  for  some  par 
ticular  part  of  the  lock.  At  some  forges  the 
work  to  be  performed  was  making  screws  ;  at 
others  springs  ;  at  another,  what  was  called  the 
tumbler,  which  is  a  part  of  the  lock,  of  a  very 
irregular  shape.  Marco  was  very  much  inter 
ested  to  see  how  easily  all  these  various  forms 
were  produced  by  means  of  this  contrivance 
of  a  stake  and  jumper. 

From  this  forging  shop  Marco  and  Forester 
went  to  other  large  buildings  where  various  ope 
rations,  connected  with  finishing  the  locks  and 
guns  were  going  on.  In  one  room  men  were 
employed  in  smoothing  over  the  gun-stocks,  tak 
ing  them  as  they  came  from  the  lathes  in  the 
stocking-shop.  Others  were  fitting  the  locks  to 
the  stocks,  or  rather  cutting  away  the  wood  in 


THE    ARSENAL. 


131 


Pnttarus. 


Making  the  locks. 


such  a  manner  as  that  the  locks  would  fit. 
They  went  into  one  long  chamber  which  had 
benches  all  around  it,  where  workmen  were 
employed  in  filing  and  finishing  the  small  parts 
of  the  lock  which  they  had  seen  forged  in  the 
forging  shop. 

In  this  apartment,  Marco  observed  that  each 
bench  seemed  to  be  fitted  for  one  particular 
branch  of  work  ;  and  it  had  its  vice,  its  tools, 
and  its  patterns,  adapted  to  that,  and  to  that 
alone.  The  patterns  were  made  of  steel,  and 
the  workmen  filed  the  wojk  to  correspond  with 
them  exactly.  Here  each  man  was  employed 
in  finishing  a  great  many  pieces  of  the  same 
kind,  and  he  made 
them  all  as  exactly 
alike  as  possible. 

In  one  part  of 
this  room  a  man 
was  engaged  in 
putting  these  pieces 
together,  to  make 
the  locks  complete. 
He  had  a  long  box 
before  him,  divided 
into  many  com 
partments.  These  MAKING  UP  TEE  :. 


1 32      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Division  of  labor.  Advantage  of  it. 

compartments  had  the  several  parts  of  the 
lock  in  them,  a  great  many  of  one  kind  being 
in  each  part.  The  workman  would  take  up 
one  piece  of  each  kind,  and  put  them  together, 
to  make  a  lock.  In  doing  this,  he  had  to  file 
them  down  a  little  sometimes,  to  fit  them 
exactly  to  their  places.  If  the  holes  which 
the  screws  were  to  go  into,  wrere  not  quite 
large  enough,  he  would  bore  them  out  larger, 
and  Marco  was  astonished  to  see  how  easi 
ly  he  would  cut  and  bore  the  solid  brass  and 
iron.  It  took  but  a  very  short  time  to  put  one 
set  of  the  parts  together  to  make  a  lock. 

As  they  walked  away  from  this  place.  Fores 
ter  said  that  it  afforded  a  very  fine  example 
of  what  was  called  division  of  labor. 

"  What  is  meant  by  that  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  Why,  you  see,"  replied  Forester,  "  that  in 
making  a  lock,  they  divide  the  work  into  a  great 
many  parts,  and  give  each  man  only  one  small 
part  to  do.  They  construct  tools  and  instru 
ments  expressly  for  that  part,  and  as  the  man 
has  nothing  else  to  do,  he  acquires  great  expert- 
ness  in  doing  the  particular  thing  assigned  to 
him.  The  other  plan  would  be  to  let  each  man 
be  employed  in  making  a  whole  lock.  In  that 
case  the  work  would  be  done  to  great  disad- 


THE    A  R  s  E  N  A  L.  133 

Natural  talent.  Forester's  explanations. 

vantage  ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  each  man  must 
have  a  complete  set  of  fixtures  and  tools  for  all 
the  different  kinds  of  work,  and  then  he  must 
constantly  change  from  one  kind  of  work  to 
another,  and  thus  lose  time.  Besides,  by  having 
to  learn  a  great  many  different  kinds  of  work, 
he  could  not  be  so  skillful  in  any.  But,  on  this 
plan,  each  man  has  only  to  learn  one  or  two 
operations,  and  these  he  learns  perfectly,  and 
he  naturally  falls  into  such  operations  as  he  has 
the  most  natural  talent  for." 

"  I  never  heard  of  natural  talent  for  work," 
said  Marco. 

"  There  is  talent  for  work,"  said  Forester. 
"  Men  have  different  talents  or  capacities  for 
different  kinds  of  mechanical  works.  One  man 
has  excellent  success,  for  example,  in  tempering 
edge  tools.  He  has  a  certain  nice  power  of 
perception,  which  enables  him  to  regulate  the 
process  exactly,  and  temper  the  steel  at  precisely 
the  right  heat.  Another  has  not  that  peculiar 
quickness  of  eye  for  this,  but  has  a  good  capa 
city  for  judging  of  form  ;  and  so  he  makes  a 
good  filer.  He  will  file  a  piece  into  the  true 
shape,  in  a  much  shorter  time,  perhaps,  than 
the  one  who  is  so  skillful  in  tempering.  There 
is  as  much  variety  in  the  bodily  system  as  there 


134       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Compos!  lora.  Mode  of  composing. 

is  in  the  mental,  and  it  makes  as  great  a  differ 
ence  in  the  powers  and  capacities  of  men,  in 
regard  to  their  fitness  for  different  mechanical 
pursuits,  as  the  difference  in  intellectual  genius 
makes  in  their  fitness  for  the  professions,  or 
other  mental  employments.  I  have  heard  it 
said,  by  printers,  that  some  men  can  never  make 
rapid  compositors." 

"  What  are  compositors  ?"  asked  M -i-rco. 

"  Those  that  set  up  the  types,"  said  Forester, 
"  Composing,  is  setting  types.  The  compositor 
has  the  copy  before  him,  and  a  box  inclined 
toward  him,  like  a  desk,  with  small  partitions  in 
it,  and  each  compartment  has  one  kind  of  type. 
Now  the  compositor  looks  at  a  word,  notices 
the  letters,  and  then  takes  the  types  up  one  by 
one  from  the  various  compartments.  The 
philosophy  of  it  is  this.  The  image  of  a  letter 
in  his  eye  produces  an  effect  on  the  nerve, 
which  is  communicated  to  the  brain,  and  thence 
to  his  mind.  Then  there  arises  in  his  mind  an 
idea  of  the  compartment  where  that  letter  be 
longs,  and  the  nerve  leading  to  the  arm  pro 
duces  the  proper  motion  to  carry  the  hand  to 
the  proper  compartment.  You  see  it  is,  in  fact, 
quite  a  complicated  process. — partly  bodily  and 
partly  mental.  Now  this  process  is  completed 


THE    ARSENAL.  135 

"vitural  differences  among  men.  The  central  building. 

much  quickei  with  some  persons  than  with 
others.  It  is  owing  to  some  peculiar  and  hid 
den  difference  in  the  nerves,  or  brain,  or  mus 
cles,  by  which  the  mechanism  in  some  cases 
acts  quickly,  and  in  others  more  slowly.  But 
those  persons  in  whom  these  nervous  commu 
nications  are  made  more  slowly,  are  not  neces 
sarily  inferior  to  the  others,  for  they  may  have 
the  advantage  in  some  other  power  of  body  or 
mind,  which  more  than  counterbalances  this. 
For  instance,  one  person  may  hear  or  see 
quicker  than  another  ;  but  the  second  may  hear 
more  correctly  than  the  first.  One  may  have 
such  a  bodily  ^constitution,  that  his  sense  of 
touch  is  very  nice — another  has  correct  ideas 
of  form,  another  of  sounds,  and  thus  all  vary. 
Thus,  different  workmen  are  fitted  to  different 
processes  and  employments ;  and  by  adopting 
the  system  of  division  of  labor,  each  after  a  time 
falls  into  the  one  which  is  most  adapted  to  his 
powers  ;  and  so  he  works  to  the  greatest  ad 
vantage  in  doing  always  what  he  can  do  easiest 
and  best/' 

Not  long  after  this,  Forester  and  Marco  went 
into  the  central  building,  on  the  main  front  of 
the  square,  which  Forester  said  was  the  office 
and  counting-house,  and  asked  a  gentleman, 


136      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


The  arsenal.  Interior  of  the  room. 

who  was  there  at  a  desk,  if  they  could  go  into 
the  arsenal.  The  arsenal  was  one  of  the  large 
buildings  where  the  muskets  were  stored  after 
they  were  finished.  They  had  been  told  by 
some  of  the  workmen  that  the  arsenal  was 
locked,  but  that  if  they  went  to  the  office,  a 
gentleman  would  go  with  them,  and  let  them 
see  it.  As  there  was  nobody  at  work  in  the 
arsenal,  it  was  customary  to  keep  it  locked. 
The  gentleman  in  the  office  said  he  would  go 
with  them  ;  so  taking  a  key,  and  putting  on  his 
hat,  he  followed  them  out. 

He  conducted  them  along  a  gravel  walk, 
which  led  between  two  rows  of  trees,  toward 
the  center  of  the  square,  and  after  advancing 
for  some  distance  in  that  direction,  he  turned  at 
right  angles  into  another  walk,  which  conducted 
them  across  that  part  of  the  square,  toward  the 
front  door  of  the  arsenal. 

He  unlocked  the  door,  and  ushered  Forester 
and  Marco  into  the  apartment.  They  were 
both  struck  with  astonishment  at  the  imposing 
spectacle  which  was  presented  to  their  view. 
Except  the  necessary  space  for  passages,  the 
room  was  entirely  filled  with  muskets.  The 
muskets  were  arranged,  with  the  most  perfect 
precision  and  svrnmefrv,  in  an  uDriVht  position, 


THE    ARSENAL  137 

The  guns  and  bayonets.  Symmetrical  arrangement. 

the  butts  resting  in  frames  made  for  the  pur 
pose,  and  raised  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
floor.  The  tops  of  the  bayonets  reached  nearly 
to  the  ceiling.  The  dark  and  glossy  brown 
color  of  the  stocks,  with  the  highly  polished 
luster  of  the  bayonets,  and  other  metallic  parts, 
gave  to  each  individual  gun  a  very  beautiful 
appearance  ;  but,  in  addition  to  this,  there  was 
a  most  surprising  effect  produced  by  the  im 
mense  numbers  and  admirable  arrangement  of 
the  whole.  The  rows  of  bayonets  glittered  in  a 
long  perspective.  Even  the  locks,  and  the  ram 
rods,  and  the  sights  upon  the  barrels,  and,  in 
fact,  every  single  part  of  the  gun,  were  pre 
sented  to  the  eye,  in  long  ranges,  extending  up 
and  down  the  room.  The  guns  were  placed  on 
the  frames  only  about  half  an  inch  apart,  and 
yet  so  precise  was  the  arrangement,  that,  by 
standing  at  one  end  of  the  room,  and  looking 
through,  Marco  could  see  the  window  at  the 
other  end,  through  any  one  of  these  crevices,  at 
a  hundred  and  twenty  feet  distance,  which  was 
the  length  of  the  room.  The  room  was  a  hun 
dred  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  forty  feet  wide  ; 
and  there  was  another  in  the  second  story,  of 
the  same  dimensions,  and  filled  in  the  same 
manner. 


138       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

A  hundred  thousand  muskets.  To  the  hotel. 


Forester  asked  the  gentleman  who  conducted 
them  to  the  arsenal,  how  many  muskets  there 
were  in  the  building ;  he  said,  nearly  a  hundred 
thousand.  These  were  all  ready  for  use.  They 
had  to  be  taken  down  and  oiled,  he  said,  every 
few  years,  to  keep  the  bright  parts  from  rusting. 
They  could  be  very  easily  taken  out  of  their 
places,  as  they  were  not  fastened  in  in  any  way. 
The  gentleman  took  one  of  them  out,  to  show 
how  easily  it  could  be  removed. 

After  admiring  this  beautiful  spectacle  a  few 
minutes,  Forester  and  Marco  thanked  the  gen 
tleman  for  his  kindness,  and  went  away.  As 
they  had  now  completed  their  survey  of  all  the 
shops  and  buildings,  they  left  the  grounds,  and 
went  down  into  the  village  of  Springfield  to 
their  hotel. 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.        139 


Going  to  Boston.  The  carriage.  They  reach  tho  station. 


CHAPTER    X. 
THE    DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED. 


T"¥THEN  Forester  and  Marco  had  finished 
their  examination  of  the  armory,  Mar 
co  began  to  consider,  in  pursuance  of  the  plan 
which  Forester  had  adopted  of  allowing  him  to 
have  the  whole  direction  of  the  journey,  what 
arrangements  he  should  make  for  going  to  Bos 
ton.  He  decided,  at  once,  to  go  by  the  western 
railroad.  He  knew  very  well  that  the  great 
western  railroad  from  Boston  to  Albany,  passed 
through  Springfield  ;  and  he  very  naturally  in 
ferred,  that  he  could  take  that  railroad,  and  go 
directly  to  Boston.  He  asked  what  time  the 
cars  came  in,  and  they  told  him  about  noon. 
He  accordingly  made  arrangements  to  have  a 
carriage  take  them  to  the  depot  at  that  time. 

There  was  one  thing  very  excellent  in  Mar 
co's  traveling  arrangements,  and  that  was,  the 
principle  of  always  being  in  ample  season.  On 
this  occasion,  they  reached  the  depot  about 
twenty  minutes  before  the  usual  time  for  the 
cars  to  arrive,  arid  while  they  were  waiting 


140       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Marco  talks.  Forester  is  silent. 

there,  seated  upon  a  settee  in  the  gentlemen's 
room,  they  spent  the  time  in  conversation. 

Marco  had  been  very  much  interested  in  the 
admirable  system  and  order  which  prevailed  in 
all  parts  of  the  armory  ;  and  he  had  been  as 
tonished  at  the  vast  accumulation  of  arms,  which 
he  saw  must  exist  in  the  arsenals.  After  con 
versing  with  Forester  on  various  other  topics, 
he  began  to  talk  about  this  ;  but  Forester  did 
not  appear  to  take  much  notice  of  what  he  said. 

"  It  must  cost  a  great  deal  of  money,"  said 
he,  "  to  make  such  an  immense  number  of 
muskets." 

Forester  did  not  answer. 

"  And  it  must  take  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
trouble  to  keep  them  all  safe  and  in  order." 

Forester  said,  "  Yes,"  faintly  ;  but  yet  he 
seemed  to  be  thinking  of  something  else. 

"  But  I  think  it  is  an  excellent  plan,"  said 
Marco,  "  notwithstanding ;  don't  you,  cousin 
Forester  ?" 

"  Cousin  Forester !"  repeated  Marco,  when 
he  found  that  his  cousin  did  not  answer  ;  "don't 
you  think  it  is  a  good  plan  to  make  all  these 
muskets  ?  and  then  when  the  enemy  comes  to 
fight  us,  we  shall  be  ready  for  them." 

"  Why,  to  tell  the  truth,"  said  Forester,  "  I 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.        141 


The  railway  station. 


was  thinking  of  something  else.  Let  me  see 
your  tickets."  Marco  had  gone,  when  they 
first  got  to  the  office,  and  bought  two  Boston 
tickets,  one  for  himself,  and  one  for  Forester. 
Marco  handed  these  tickets  to  Forester.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  bustle  in  the  great  house, 
close  adjoining  the  office,  had  been  for  some 
minutes  rapidly  increasing.  Heavy  trains  of 
cars  moved  slowly  one  way  or  the  other  ;  some 
times  pushed  by  men,  and  sometimes  drawn  by 
a  locomotive.  Passengers  were  coining  and 


RAILWAY   STATI 


THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Mystery.  Marco  has  made  a  mistake. 

going  in  considerable  numbers,  and  at  this  mo 
ment  a  bell  was  heard  to  ring.  A  conductor 
also  came  to  them,  and  asked  them  which  way 
they  were  going. 

"On  the  western  railroad,"  said  Marco, 
promptly. 

"  The  western  cars  are  ready/'  said  the  con 
ductor. 

So  Marco  and  Forester  rose,  and  Marco  led 
the  way  toward  the  cars — Forester  and  the  con 
ductor  following.  Marco  heard  them  talking 
together  about  something,  on  the  way,  but  he 
could  not  tell  what,  on  account  of  the  noise  and 
bustle  which  surrounded  them  ;  and  presently 
they  took  their  seats  comfortably  in  the  cars. 

Now  Marco  unfortunately  forgot,  that,  though 
the  railroad  between  Boston  and  Albany  is  all 
called  the  western  railroad,  at  Boston,  yet  at 
Springfield,  a  part  of  it  extends  toward  the  east 
ward,  and  it  was  this  eastern  part  which  he 
ought  to  have  taken,  in  order  to  be  conducted 
to  Boston.  But  as  Marco  said  that  he  was  go 
ing  on  the  western  railroad,  the  conductor  sup 
posed  that  they  were  going  to  Albany,  and  he 
put  them  into  the  western  cars  accordingly  ;  so 
that  as  soon  as  the  train  began  to  get  fairly  un 
der  way,  Marco  was  carrying  the  party  under 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.         143 

Con  versation  resumed.  Going  armed. 

his  charge,  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour, 
in  a  direction  exactly  contrary  to  the  one  in 
which  they  wanted  to  go. 

Forester  understood  all  this,  but  made  no  ex 
planation,  and  so  they  went  on.  After  a  few 
minutes'  pause,  he  said, 

"  You  were  asking  me,  Marco,  about  the  wis 
dom  of  manufacturing  all  these  muskets." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  so  as  to  have  them 
ready." 

"  I  don't  know  myself,"  replied  Forester, 
'•'  whether  it  is  a  good  plan  or  not.  It  takes  a 
statesman  to  judge  safely  about  measures  for 
the  defense  of  nations.  But  as  far  as  I  can  see 
into  the  subject,  I  should  think  there  was  some 
doubt  about  it." 

"  Why  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  It  generally  makes  men  quarrelsome  to  go 
armed,"  said  Forester ;  "  and  I  did  not  know 
but  that  it  might  possibly  have  the  same  effect 
among  nations.  In  some  countries  it  is  the  cus 
tom  for  almost  every  gentleman  to  carry  some 
deadly  weapon  about  him — as  a  little  dirk  or 
dagger,  or  a  pistol ;  and  in  such  countries,  quar 
rels,  and  murders,  and  assassinations,  are  gene 
rally  very  frequent." 

"  What  countries  are  they  ?''  asked  Marco. 


144      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Effect  of  the  practice  of  going  armed.  ' '  A  supposition, 

"  Why,  this  was  the  practice  in  almost  all 
countries,  a  century  or  two  ago,  I  believe,"  re 
plied  Forester  ;  "  and  the  custom  continues  to 
this  day,  in  some  places  ;  and  wherever  it  does 
continue,  a  great  many  quarrels,  duels,  and 
murders,  take  place.  Where  persons  wear 
dirks,  or  bowie-knives,  or  pistols,  ready  to  pull 
out  at  a  moment's  warning,  it  is  apt  to  make 
them  fierce  in  spirit,  boastful  and  revengeful." 

"  But  then,"  said  Marco,  "  they  know  that 
every  body  else  is  armed,  and  I  should  think 
that  that  would  make  them  keep  civil." 

"  No,"  replied  Forester,  "  it  does  not  have 
that  effect.  Each  one  has  an  exaggerated  idea 
of  his  own  skill  and  power,  and  thinks  that,  in  a 
fight,  he  should  come  off  conqueror  ;  and  so  he 
is  always  ready  to  give  provocation  and  to  re 
sent  provocation.  But  where  nobody  goes 
armed,  serious  quarrels  are  very  rare. 

"  You  can  easily  see  how  it  must  be,"  con 
tinued  Forester,  "  by  the  case  of  boys.  Sup 
pose  fifty  boys  were  amusing  themselves  upon 
a  green ;  and  while  they  were  engaged  in  play 
ing  ball,  or  some  other  peaceable  sport,  suppose 
that  a  pedler  should  come  along  with  a  bundle 
of  little  whips,  fifty  in  the  bundle,  and  the  boys 
should  each  buy  one,  and  then  go  back  to  their 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.        145 

Whips  in  the  hands  of  boys.  Pistols. 

play ;  it  is  very  easy  to  see   that  there  would 
probably  soon  be  difficulty." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "I  suppose  there  would." 

"  The  boys,"  continued  Forester,  "  would  run 
about,  snapping  and  brandishing  their  whips  at 
one  another,  in  a  threatening  manner.  In  fact, 
the  very  possession  of  a  whip  would  produce  a 
sort  of  instinctive  desire  to  use  it,  and  it  would 
be  very  likely  that  although  they  might  all 
have  been  very  peaceable  and  harmonious  be 
fore,  there  would  several  serious  quarrels  arise 
out  of  this  unlucky  arming  of  themselves  with 
whips." 

'•'  Yes,"  said  Marco  ;  "  whips  are  very  apt  to 
make  difficulty  among  boys." 

"  Now  it  is  somewhat  so  with  men,"  rejoined 
Forester.  "  When  a  man  gets  a  new  patent 
revolving  pistol,  which  will  discharge  six  bul 
lets  in  as  many  seconds,  the  possession  of  it 
awakens  a  sort  of  desire  to  try  it.  '  There/ 
says  he  to  himself,  'I  should  like  to  see  a  robber 
attack  me  now  ;'  or  '  if  any  body  wishes  to  in 
sult  me  now,  let  him  come  on.'  Thus  his  mind 
assumes  a  belligerent  attitude,  ready  to  take  of 
fense  at  any  provocation." 

"  What  is  belligerent  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Warlike,"  replied  Forester. 
K 


146      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY, 

The  arming  of  nations.  The  argument  in  favor  of  it, 

"  Now  I  think  it  probable/'  continued  Fores 
ter,  "  that  it  is  somewhat  so  with  nations.  If  a 
government  has  just  finished  some  very  superi 
or  ships  of  war,  or  has  got  an  immense  army  all 
finely  organized  and  armed,  I  should  think  it 
likely  it  would  not  be  quite  so  patient  and  for 
bearing  as  if  it  were  unarmed.  At  any  rate,  I 
am  quite  sure  that  if  all  the  nations  would  dis 
band  their  armies,  and  destroy  their  stores  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  reserving  only  an  amount 
of  physical  power  sufficient  to  preserve  internal 
order,  the  peace  of  the  world  would  be  much 
more  secure  than  it  is  now.  Every  body  ad 
mits  this ;  but  then  they  say  that  the  nations 
generally  will  not  do  this,  and  that  it  is  not  safe 
for  any  one  to  go  defenseless  while  the  rest 
are  armed." 

"  So  I  should  think,"  said  Marco. 

'•  I  am  not  certain  about  that  myself,"  said 
Forester.  "  If  a  peaceful  traveler  goes  to  a 
country  where  people  are  generally  armed,  he 
does  not  arm  himself,  but  passes  to  and  fro 
among  the  dirks  and  bowie-knives,  as  safe  as 
any  of  those  that  are  armed.  He  is  not  as  safe 
as  he  is  at  home,  but  he  is  safe  as  any  man  can 
be  in  a  community  where  he  is  so  surrounded 
with  deadly  weapons. 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.        147 

Marco's  opinion.  Objections  to  shooting  at  robbers. 

"  If  I  were  going  to  travel  among  robbers," 
said  Marco,  "  I  should  certainly  get  some  pis 
tols." 

"  Why,  even  that  would  be  doubtful,"  said 
Forester.  "  If  you  were  attacked,  it  is  very 
likely  that  pistols  would  do  you  more  harm  than 
good." 

"  How  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  not  being  used  to  fights  and  firings, 
you  would  feel  a  kind  of  excitement  and  trepi 
dation,  and  would  not  act  coolly  enough.  Per 
haps  you  would  fire  too  quick — before  you  had 
proper  aim ;  or  else  you  would  wait  so  long, 
that,  while  you  were  aiming,  the  robber,  seeing 
that  you  were  going  to  try  to  shoot  him,  would 
shoot  you,  or  cut  you  down  with  a  sword ; 
whereas,  if  you  had  offered  no  resistance,  he 
would  probably  only  have  robbed  you,  without 
taking  your  life.  To  shoot  a  defenseless  man, 
is  very  easy, — but  to  shoot  a  robber,  who  comes 
up  to  attack  you,  completely  armed  himself, 
and  on  the  alert,  is  very  difficult.  It  requires 
great  coolness,  steadiness,  and  precision,  to  act 
in  such  a  case  exactly  right,  and  exactly  at  the 
right  instant.  And  then,  if  you  exercise  all  this 
coolness  and  firmness,  and  act  exactly  right, 
and  shoot  one  robber, — ten  to  one  there  will  be 


148       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Marco's  argument.  The  killing  a  man  always  dreadful 

another,  or  a  gang  of  them,  who  will  immedi 
ately  kill  you  in  revenge ;  whereas,  if  you  had 
been  unarmed,  they  would  probably  have  only 
taken  your  money,  and  let  you  go." 

"  No,"  said  Marco  ;  "  I  think  they  would  kill 


me." 


"  I  think  not,"  said  Forester.  "  Robbers  sel 
dom  murder  those  whom  they  rob,  unless  they 
think  they  are  compelled  to  do  it  on  account 
of  the  resistance  they  make,  or  for  some  other 
cause." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  I  suppose  if  there  was 
a  gang  of  them,  it  wouldn't  be  of  any  use ;  but 
if  there  was  only  one,  I  think  I  could  shoot 
him." 

"  You  might  possibly,"  said  Forester  ;  "  but 
even  that  would  injure  you  more  than  it  would 
him  ;  for  if  you  should  succeed  in  wounding 
him  badly,  it  would  be  a  horrid  sight  to  see  a 
wretched  man  writhing  in  convulsions  on  the 
ground,  and  biting  the  dust  in  agony  ;  and  it 
would  be  a  great  many  years  before  you  could 
get  it  out  of  your  mind.  It  would  make  you 
gloomy  and  miserable  while  awrake,  and  visions 
of  it  would  terrify  you  in  your  dreams.  The 
indignation  and  anger  which  you  felt  when  you 
shot  at  him,  would  be  changed  into  pity  and 


DANGER    OF   BEING   ARMED.        149 


Painful  thoughts.  Marco  convinced. 

compassion  for  him  when  you  saw  him  in 
misery.  Perhaps  he  would  linger  several  days 
in  extreme  suffering,  and  you  would  watch  him 
and  inquire  after  "him  day  after  day,  and  wish 
that  death  would  come  and  put  an  end  to  his 
pain.  You  would  begin  to  imagine  excuses  for 
him.  You  would  think  that  perhaps  he  had 
been  neglected  when  a  boy,  and  had  never  been 
taught  to  be  honest  and  true, — or  that  he  had  a 
wife  and  children  perishing  for  food,  and  that 
he  had  no  way  of  earning  a  supply  for  them. 
These  thoughts  would  add  to  your  anguish  ; 
and  you  would  perhaps  wish  that  you  had  given 
up  double  the  sum  that  he  would  have  taken 
from  you,  rather  than  to  have  shot  him.  Even 
if  your  sense  of  his  guilt  remained  unchanged, 
and  you  were  satisfied  that  he  deserved  to  die, 
you  would  wish  that  you  had  left  it  to  somebody 
else  to  be  his  executioner." 

Marco  said  nothing  in  reply  to  these  remarks. 
The  view  of  the  subject,  which  Forester  thus 
presented,  was  new  and  unexpected  to  him. 
He  saw,  however,  very  plainly,  that  it  was  a 
correct  one,  and  he  was  rather  inclined  to  come 
to  the  conclusion,  that  if  a  traveler  was  so  un 
fortunate  as  to  be  compelled  to  choose  between 
the  two  evils  of  suffering  a  robbery  or  commit- 


150      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Case  of  a  nation.  Important  difference. 

ting  a  homicide,  it  would  be  best,  on  the  whole, 
to  submit  to  the  former.     At  any  rate,  he  saw 
very  clearly  that  Forester  would  rather  be  rob 
bed  than  shoot  a  robber. 

"  However,"  said  Forester,  at  length,  "  to  re 
turn  to  the  subject ;  I  think  it  is  best  for  an 
individual  to  go  unarmed,  whether  other  people 
do  or  not.  But  in  regard  to  a  nation,  the  case 
is  very  different,  in  one  respect,  at  least ;  and 
so  I  don't  decide  that  question." 

"  In  what  respect  is  it  different  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"  Why,  when  an  unarmed  individual  is 
among  others  that  are  armed,"  said  Forester, 
"  he  has  the  laws  of  the  country  to  protect  him. 
There  are  courts  and  officers  of  justice,  which 
have  all  the  individuals  in  the  community  under 
their  control,  whether  armed  or  unarmed  ;  and 
these  powers  of  government  preserve  the  peace 
and  protect  the  defenseless.  If  a  defenseless 
man  is  attacked  in  the  street  in  such  a  country, 
he  has  only  to  call  out  '  watch/  and  there  are 
plenty  of  men  ready  to  run  to  his  rescue,  fully 
empowered  to  protect  him,  if  it  is  possible  to  do 
it.  But  nations  have  no  such  system  of  general 
law  and  government  over  them.  There  is  a 
general  system  of  law,  commonly  recognized 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.         151 

Immense  expense  of  public  armaments. 


and  acknowledged,  called  the  law  of  nations  ; 
but  there  is  no  government  to  execute  it. 
Every  nation  has  to  execute  the  law  of  nations 
for  itself.  If  a  man  in  a  country  where  people 
generally  go  armed,  concludes  no  longer  to  go 
armed,  and  throws  his  pistol  away,  he  does  not, 
by  any  means,  throw  away  all  the  physical  pro 
tection  he  has.  He  still  reserves  his  claim  to 
the  force  of  the  police  and  the  officers  of  justice, 
who  stand  always  ready.  But  if  a  nation  were 
to  disband  its  armies,  and  destroy  its  arms  and 
ammunition,  it  would  give  up  the  whole — for 
there  is  no  power  above  it  to  afford  protection. 
This  makes  the  case  of  nations  essentially  dif 
ferent  ;  and  I  don't  know  enough  about  it  to 
judge  what  the  effect  would  be  of  a  nation  giv 
ing  up  its  defenses  in  time  of  peace.  One  thing 
I  know,  and  that  is,  it  would  save  an  enormous 
expense  by  doing  so,  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
what  it  would  save  in  time  of  peace,  would  be 
of  more  use  in  money,  in  case  a  war  should 
break  out,  than  what  was  left  of  the  preparations 
they  had  been  making  ;  for  a  great  deal  of  the 
amount  expended  is  lost  and  consumed  year  by 
year,  and  does  no  good.  Then  the  way  of  con 
structing  arms,  and  ships,  and  forts,  changes 
from  time  to  time,  and  thus  many  expensive 


152       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Forester  in  doubt.  Marco  alarmed.  Distance  to  Worcester. 

preparations  become  useless,  by  being  super 
seded,  before  they  can  be  used.  If  I  could  meet 
with  some  intelligent  politician,  I  would  ask 
him  what  amount  our  government  has  expended 
for  warlike  preparations,  since  the  last  war,  and 
what  it  is  all  worth  now." 

Marco  said  that  he  should  like  to  know  very 
much,  and  then  asked  Forester  what  time  he 
thought  that  they  should  get  to  Worcester.  He 
knew  that  Worcester  was  between  Springfield 
and  Boston,  as  any  of  our  readers  can  see  by 
looking  upon  a  map. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Forester.  "  I  think  it 
is  very  doubtful  when  we  shall  see  Worcester 
again." 

"  Why,  how  far  is  it  to  Worcester  ?"  said 
Marco. 

"  From  here,"  said  Forester,  (i  arid  in  the  way 
we  are  going  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco. 

"  If  we  keep  on  always  in  the  same  course  by 
the  compass,  it  may  be  about  fifteen  thousand 
miles ;  but  if  we  go  in  a  straight  line,  about 
twenty-four  thousand.  It  would  be  just  once 
round  the  world,  minus  fifty  miles  !" 

"  Round  the  world  !"  exclaimed  Marco,  in 
astonishment. 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.         153 


The  explanation.  Corporations.  Irregular  work. 

"  Yes/'  said  Forester,  coolly.  "  Worcester 
is  east  from  here,  and  we  are  going  west. 
These  cars  are  going  to  Albany/' 

Marco  started  up  in  amazement,  and  was 
going  to  run  to  the  conductor,  to  get  him  to  stop 
the  train,  but  Forester  advised  him  to  sit  down, 
and  keep  quiet.  He  then  explained  to  him  the 
cause  of  his  mistake. 

"  And  why  did  not  you  tell  me  before  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"  Because/'  said  Forester,  "  I  thought  it 
would  be  a  good  joke,  and  that  you  wouldn't 
care  much.  We  can  go  to  Vermont  through 
Albany,  as  well  as  through  Boston.  It  was  only 
by  mistake  that  we  got  into  Massachusetts  at 
all,  and  now,  by  this  second  accident,  we  shall 
get  back  again  upon  our  original  route." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  only  my  tickets  won't 
do  ;  1  bought  Boston  tickets."  So  he  began  to 
feel  in  his  pockets  for  his  tickets,  but  Forester 
told  him  that  he  need  not  trouble  himself  about 
them. 

"  When  I  saw,"  said  he,  "  that  you  were 
coming  into  these  cars,  I  handed  the  tickets  to 
the  conductor,  before  we  got  in,  and  he  ex 
changed  them  for  me,  and  gave  me  checks,  and 
here  they  are." 


154       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Navigation  mysteries. 


After  Marco  had  in  some  measure  recovered 
from  his  surprise,  he  asked  Forester  what  he 
meant  by  saying,  "  that  if  they  went  round  the 
world  by  the  compass  it  would  be  fifteen  thou 
sand  miles  ;  but  if  they  went  in  a  straight  line, 
it  would  be  twenty-four  thousand.  I  should 
think,"  said  he,  "  that  going  in  the  same  course 
by  the  compass,  would  be  going  in  a  straight 
line." 

"  No,"  said  Forester  ;  "  going  by  the  com 
pass,  is  not  going  straight,  except  in  some  par 
ticular  cases.  If  we  set  out  to  go  exactly  west 
from  here,  we  should  go  round  the  world  on  a 
parallel  of  latitude,  keeping  always  at  the  same 
distance  from  the  pole.  But  if  we  keep  on  in 
the  same  absolute  direction,  we  should  go  round 
upon  a  great  circle,  and  thus  pass  entirely  round 
the  world." 

"  I  don't  understand  it  very  well,"  said  Marco. 

"  I  can  make  it  very  plain,"  said  Forester, 
"  with  a  globe.  I  will  show  you,  when  we  have 
an  opportunity  to  see  a  globe." 

Just  then  the  cars  began  to  go  slower,  and 
presently  they  stopped  at  a  little  village,  where 
an  orange  girl  came  in  with  a  basket  of  oranges 
for  sale.  Forester  bought  two. — one  for  Marco 
and  one  for  himself;  and  he  made  Marco's 


DANGER    OF    BEING    ARMED.         1 55 

Forester  buys  a  model  of  the  world. 

which  was  the  biggest,  answer  very  \vell  for  a 
globe,  so  far  as  was  necessary  to  explain  to  him 
the  difference  between  going  round  the  world 
on  the  forty-second  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
which  is  about  the  parallel  that  they  were  then 
on,  and  going  on  a  great  circle.  The  one  would 
keep  them  on  the  north  side  of  the  equator,  all 
the  way,  about  equi-distant  from  the  equator 
and  the  pole,  while  the  other  would  carry  them 
to  the  antipodes. 

After  this,  the  cars  were  soon  in  motion  again, 
and  they  went  on  their  way.  Marco  met  with 
no  farther  mishaps  till  they  reached  the  end  of 
their  journey. 


156       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Various  kinds  of  fire-arms.  P'orester's  enumeration. 


CHAPTER   XL 
ORDNANCE. 

IN  the  course  of  their  travels  in  going  to  Ver 
mont,  Marco  and  Forester  fell  into  con 
versation  one  day  on  the  general  subject  of 
arms  and  military  engines. 

"  They  don't  seem  to  make  any  thing  but 
muskets  at  Springfield,"  said  Marco,  "  but  there 
are  a  great  many  other  kinds  of  weapons  and 
things  used  in  war,  are  there  not  ?" 

"  Oh  yes,"  said  Forester,  "  a  great  many 
kinds." 

"  What  are  they  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Oh,"  replied  Forester,  "  they  are  almost  in 
numerable.  There  are  cannons,  and  mortars, 
and  howitzers,  and  carronades,  and  bomb-shells, 
and  petards,  and  grenades,  and  Congreve  rock 
ets,  and  pistols,  and  crackers,  and  torpedos,  and 
squibs." 

Marco  laughed  at  this  long  enumeration  of 
the  means  of  war,  beginning  so  terribly  and  yet 
ending  with  squibs.  He  asked  Forester  to  ex- 


ORDNANCE.  157 


Squibs.  A  mortar.  The  shell.  The  explosion. 

plain  the  things  to  him, — all  except  the  squibs. 
He  knew  what  squibs  were  already,  he  said. 

"  And  you  know  what  cannon  are  ?"  said 
Forester. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco  ;  "  but  I  don't  know  what 
a  mortar  is." 

"  A  mortar  is  something  like  a  cannon,"  re 
plied  Forester,  "  only  it  is  made  to  throw  bomb 
shells  instead  of  solid  balls." 

"  And  what  are  bomb-shells  ?"  asked  Marco  ; 
"  you  had  better  tell  me  what  they  are  first." 

"  They  are  large  iron  balls,"  said  Forester, — 
"  some  of  them  a  great  deal  bigger  than  your 
head,  and  hollow.  The  inside  is  rilled  with 
gunpowder,  so  as  to  explode  and  burst  the  ball 
all  to  pieces.  There  is  a  hole  through  the  iron, 
where  they  put  the  powder  in.  When  the  shell 
is  filled  with  powder  they  stop  up  the  hole,  put 
ting  into  it  what  they  call  a  fuse,  which  com 
municates  with  the  powder  within." 

"  That  is  to  set  the  powder  on  fire,  I  sup 
pose,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester.  "  And  the  fuse  is 
regulated  to  burn  a  certain  number  of  seconds. 
They  fire  the  bomb-shell  into  the  air,  and  it  falls 
down  upon  the  town  or  fort  that  they  are  bom 
barding.  By  the  time  that  it  comes  down  the 


158       THE  SPRINGFIELD  ARMORY. 

Blowing  up  houses.  Women  and  children. 

fuse  has  burned  out,  and  the  powder  in  the 
bomb-shell  explodes  and  bursts  the  shell  all  to 
pieces.  The  pieces  sometimes  kill  a  great  many 
men/' 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  I  should  think  they 
would." 

"  If  the  bomb-shell  falls  upon  a  house,"  added 
Forester,  "  it  breaks  through  the  roof  and  all 
the  floors,  and  goes  down  into  the  cellar,  where 
it  bursts  and  tears  the  house  all  to  pieces." 

"Hi— yi!"  said  Marco.  "I  should  like  to 
see  it." 

"  Perhaps  the  house  belonged  to  some  man," 
said  Forester,  "  who  had  been  working  all  his 
life  to  earn  it,  for  a  home  for  himself  and  his 
children  ; — and  perhaps  he  and  his  wife  and 
children  were  all  in  it  when  it  was  blown  to 
pieces." 

"  But  why  did  he  not  go  away  ?"  asked  Mar 
co,  "  before  the  bomb-shell  came." 

"  Perhaps  they  would  not  allow  him  to  go 
away,"  replied  Forester.  "  When  an  army 
comes  up  to  a  town  and  summons  the  authorities 
to  surrender,  the  authorities  sometimes  refuse, 
determining  to  defend  themselves,  and  they  ask 
permission  of  the  enemy  to  remove  their  wives 


ORDNANCE.  159 


Women  and  children  not  allowed  to  go  away. 


and  children  before  the  attack  begins.  But  the 
enemy  will  not  allow  them  to  do  so." 

"  Why  not  ?"  asked  Marco.  He  was  much 
surprised  at  this  statement,  for  he  could  not 
conceive  that  any  generous  enemy  could  wish 
to  murder  helpless  women  and  children. 

"  The  reason  why  they  will  not  allow  the 
wTomen  and  children  to  go  away,"  replied  For 
ester,  "  is  because  they  think  that  the  men 
would  make  a  more  obstinate  resistance  if  their 
families  were  in  safety.  So  they  refuse  per 
mission,  and  compel  every  body  to  remain,  in 
order  that  the  inhabitants  may  be  forced  to  sur 
render  by  being  unable  to  endure  such  a  dread 
ful  destruction  of  their  wives  and  children." 

"  /  would  not  make  them  stay,"  said  Marco. 
"  They  should  all  go  away  wherever  they 
pleased, — if  the  men  did  fight  more  obstinately 
for  it." 

"  Then  you  would  be  a  very  poor  soldier," 
said  Forester.  "  A  good  soldier  must  have  no 
mercy,  in  such  cases  as  that.  If  you  should 
lose  an  opportunity  to  take  a  town,  out  of  your 
pity  for  women  and  children,  very  likely  you 
would  be  cashiered." 

"  Cashiered,"  said  Marco  ;  "  what  is  that  ?" 


160       THE   SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Murco  does  not  wish  to  be  a  soldier.  Music. 

"  Degraded  from  office,"  replied  Forester, 
"  as  unfit  for  a  soldier." 

"  Then  I  would  not  be  a  soldier  at  all,"  said 
Marco. 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Forester.  "  And  yet  there  are 
some  things  about  military  life  that  I  like  very 
well." 

"  What  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  I  like  the  regular  and  systematic  manner  in 
which  every  thing  is  done,"  said  Forester.  "  I 
like  to  see  a  body  of  troops  marshaled  in  order, 
and  all  acting  together  like  one  man." 

"  So  do  I,"  said  Marco. 

"  And  I  like  the  music,"  said  Forester. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  and  I  too." 

"  The  drum  and  fife  make  very  animating 
music,"  said  Forester. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco  ;  "  and  in  New  York  the 
companies  generally  have  a  band." 

"  There  is  one  thing  that  I  should  particularly 
dislike,  if  I  were  an  officer  in  the  army,"  said 
Forester. 

"  What  is  that  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  The  system  that  they  go  upon  in  engaging 
the  men.  They  do  not  pay  the  men  wages 
enough  to  make  them  contented  with  their 
work,  and  desirous  of  retaining  their  places ; 


ORDNANCE.  101 

Officers.  Pay  for  officers.  Pay  for  men. 

but  they  defraud  them  into  enlisting  by  offering 
them  bounties,  or  getting  them  intoxicated,  and 
afterward  compel  them  to  remain  in  the  army 
and  do  their  duty  by  whipping  them,  or  by 
threatening  to  shoot  them  if  they  run  away.'3 

"  Is  that  the  plan  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forester,  "  in  all  regular  ar 
mies,  and  in  the  navy  too.  The  officers  are  all 
paid  well,  both  in  the  army  and  navy,  so  that 
they  are  all  desirous  of  keeping  their  places  ;  so 
much  so,  in  fact,  that  whenever,  for  any  reason, 
a  government  desires  to  diminish  the  number 
of  officers  in  the  army  it  is  always  very  hard  to 
get  rid  of  those  whom  they  do  not  need.  They 
always  cling  to  their  places  in  a  very  resolute 
and  determined  manner." 

"  That  is  a  sign  that  they  pay  them  too 
much,"  said  Marco. 

"  It  is  a  sign  that  they  pay  them  enough," 
replied  Forester,  "  at  any  rate.  And  so  when 
ever  there  is  a  plan  for  increasing  the  army, 
there  is  always  a  great  multitude  of  applications 
for  the  new  offices  that  are  to  be  created. 
There  are  a  great  many  more  than  can  possibly 
be  received.  The  country  seems  to  be  full  of 
men  who  want  to  be  colonels,  and  captains,  and 
generals." 

L 


162      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Artifices  in  enlisting  the  men. 


"  And  no  soldiers  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  No,"  replied  Forester.  "  That  is  to  say, 
there  would  generally  be  very  few  if  the  gov 
ernment  adopted  a  fair  and  honest  mode  of 
enlisting  them.  In  any  other  business  of  life  if 
men  want  laborers  they  advertise  for  them  and 
engage  those  that  apply,  letting  them  understand 
honestly  beforehand  what  the  work  is  to  be  that 
they  will  have  to  do,  and  paying  them  when  the 
work  is  done.  But  in  engaging  men  to  serve 
as  soldiers  in  an  army,  they  have  to  resort  to  a 
great  many  artifices  and  much  dexterous  man 
agement,  in  order  to  entrap  the  men  and  get 
them  to  enlist.  They  conceal  the  nature  of  the 
service  as  much  as  possible,  and  exhibit  such 
appearances  before  the  recruits  as  to  lead  them 
to  expect  that  they  are  going  to  have  a  life  of 
ease  and  comfort  in  the  army,  instead  of  one  of 
hardship,  exposure,  and  cruelty.  Then  they 
tempt  them  by  paying  them  a  considerable  sum 
in  advance,  which  they  call  bounty  money. 
The  bounty  is  a  sort  of  bait  that  they  put  upon 
the  hook  to  catch  them  with." 

"  Ho !"  said  Marco,  "  what  a  plan  !" 

"  They  justify  this  plan,"  said  Forester,  "  by 
pretending  that  the  men  need  some  money  in 
advance  to  pay  their  debts  with,  and  wind  up 


ORDNANCE.  163 

Operation  of  it.  Punishments.  Forester's  supposition. 

their  affairs,  before  they  go  away  to  serve  in  the 
army.  But  the  actual  operation  of  it  is,  that 
the  men  spend  the  bounty  money  in  drinking 
and  dissipation,  and  then  when  it  is  all  gone 
they  find  themselves  entrapped  into  an  enlist 
ment,  and  made  miserable  prisoners  and  slaves 
for  many  years.  The  officers  then  keep  them 
by  means  of  a  system  of  coercion  and  punish 
ment  which  would  be  thought  intolerable  in  any 
other  employment." 

<:  What  kind  of  punishments  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  scourging  them  dreadfully  upon  the 
bare  back,"  said  Forester,  "  chaining  them  to 
heavy  weights,  putting  collars  upon  their  necks 
with  sharp  points  inside,  and  making  them  wear 
them  for  months.  And  then  if  the  men,  find 
ing  their  misery  intolerable,  attempt  to  run 
away,  they  are  liable  to  be  shot  for  desertion. 

"  Now  one  of  the  greatest  objections  I  should 
have  to  being  a  soldier,"  continued  Forester, 
"  is  that  I  should  not  like  to  have  the  responsi 
bility  of  executing  such  a  system  as  this." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Marco. 

"  Suppose,"  continued  Forester,  "  that  such 
a  plan  were  adopted  in  any  other  business.  Sup 
pose  that  a  man  who  had  a  large  tract  of  wild 
land  to  clear  up  should  come  into  a  city  and  tell 


164      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Clearing  land.  Supposition  continued.  A  parallel , 

all  the  poor  miserable  wretches  that  he  could 
find  there,  that  if  they  would  agree  to  work  for 
him  three  years,  he  would  give  them  twenty 
dollars  apiece  at  once  to  spend  as  they  liked, 
and  afterward  that  he  would  pay  them  wages, 
— naming,  however,  only  about  half  what  the 
wages  of  laborers  usually  were.  And  suppose 
that  the  men  were  tempted  by  the  twenty  dol 
lars  to  agree  to  it.  Perhaps  he  would  get  them 
half  intoxicated  at  first,  and  induce  them  to  sign 
the  papers  while  they  were  in  that  state.  Then 
after  they  had  spent  their -money  in  dissipation 
and  carousing,  he  takes  them  off  into  the  forests, 
and  sets  them  to  work  in  the  hardest  and  most 
unhealthy  labors.  He  exposes  them  to  wet,  and 
cold,  and  hunger,  and  to  every  possible  hard 
ship,  and  if  any  of  them,  feeling  dissatisfied  with 
their  wages,  neglect  their  work,  he  ties  them  up 
to  a  tree  and  scourges  them  almost  to  death,  or 
chains  them  to  a  heavy  weight,  or  fastens  a  col 
lar  upon  their  necks,  with  sharp  points  inside  to 
lacerate  the  flesh  ;  and  then  if  any  of  them  run 
away,  he  catches  them  if  he  can,  and  shoots 
them  What  a  monster  we  should  think  such 
a  man  was !" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Marco.     "  We  should,  truly." 
"  And  yet,"  added  Forester,  "  that  is  pretty 


ORDNANCE.  165 


Compulsion.  Conscripts.  Grand  spectacles. 

much  the  way  that  modern  governments  deal 
with  soldiers  and  sailors." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  I  am  sorry  for  them. 
But  they  had  no  business  to  enlist." 

"  In  time  of  war,"  said  Forester,  "  when  great 
numbers  of  soldiers  and  sailors  are  required, 
they  can  not  generally  get  enough  to  enlist, 
with  all  their  artifices.  Then  they  compel  the 
men  to  go.  In  France  they  have  all  the  young 
men  that  are  of  a  suitable  age  to  become  sol 
diers,  registered,  and  then  they  draw  lots  to  see 
who  shall  go.  Those  to  whom  the  lot  falls  have 
to  go,  unless  they  can  get  a  substitute." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  and  can't  they  get  a 
substitute  ?" 

"The  rich  can,  but  the  poor  can  not," re 
plied  Forester, '"  and  so  the  poor  are  compelled 
to  go.  It  is  often  very  hard  for  them,  but  they 
are  compelled  to  submit. 

"  However,"  continued  Forester,  after  a  short 
pause, — "  there  are  some  things  about  war  that 
I  like." 

"  What,  besides  the  order  and  system  ?" 
asked  Marco. 

"  The  grand  spectacles,"  replied  Forester. 
"  It  must  be  a  grand  spectacle  to  see  a  fourteen 
inch  shell  taking  its  flight  in  the  night,  soaring 


166       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Flight  of  a  bomb-shell.         T  he  fuse.        The  fuse  must  come  behind. 

into  the  air  in  a  magnificent  curve  of  two  or 
three  miles'  extent,  and  then  coming  down  upon 
a  town  and  tearing  the  houses  to  pieces  with  a 
tremendous  explosion." 

"  Yes/'  said  Marco, — "  but  can  they  see  the 
shell  when  it  is  going  through  the  air." 

"  They  can  not  see  the  shell  itself,"  replied 
Forester,  "  for  it  is  only  a  great  black  ball ;  but 
the  fuse  is  burning  all  the  way,  and  they  can 
see  that.  It  makes  a  bright  line  of  light  in  the 
air." 

"  I  should  think  that  the  wind  would  blow 
the  fuse  out,"  said  Marco. 

"  But  there  might  not,  be  any  wind,"  replied 
Forester. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  the  shell  would  make 
a  wind,  going  so  swift." 

"  That  is  true,"  replied  Forester, — "  but  I 
presume  that  the  fuse  is  made  in  such  a  way 
that  no  wind  whatever  could  put  it  out.  Be 
sides  the  fuse  always  keeps  behind,  while  the 
shell  is  going  through  the  air,  and  so  it  is  shel 
tered." 

"  What  makes  it  always  keep  behind  ?"  asked 
Marco. 

"  Because  the  other  end  is  the  heaviest,"  re 
plied  Forester  "  And  whenever  any  thing  is 


ORDNANCE  167 


Forester's  illustrations  and  explanations. 


thrown  through  the  air,  the  heaviest  end  always 
keeps  foremost." 

"  What  is  the  cause  of  that  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"Why,  suppose,"  said  Forester,  "  that  you 
throw  a  bullet,  and  a  cork  ball  just  as  large  as 
the  bullet,  through  the  air,  with  all  your  force, 
which  would  go  the  swiftest  ?" 

"  The  bullet  would  go  the  farthest,''  said 
Marco. 

"  Yes,  and  it  would  go  the  swiftest,"  said  For 
ester.  "  It  would  go  the  farthest,  because  it 
would  go  the  swiftest.  The  reason  would  be 
that  the  bullet  would  be  less  resisted  and  re 
tarded  by  the  air  than  the  cork  ball. 

"  Now,"  continued  Furester,  "  suppose  that 
you  should  fasten  a  bullet  and  a  cork  ball  to 
gether,  and  throw  them  through  the  air." 

"How  could  you  fasten  them  together?" 
asked  Marco. 

"  Oh  that  is  of  no  consequence,"  said  Fores 
ter  ;  "  we  can  suppose  it  to  be  done.  You 
might  fasten  them  together  with  sealing-wax. 
Or  you  might  bore  a  hole  through  them  both 
and  pass  a  wire  through,  and  then  bend  over 
the  ends  of  the  wire.  But  no  matter  how  it  is 
done.  Suppose  them  to  be  fastened  together 
in  any  way,  and  thrown  through  the  air.  The 


168       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Ball  with  a  hole  in  it.  Momeutum. 


bullet  would  tend  to  go  faster  than  the  cork, 
and  would  keep  ahead,  pulling  the  cork  along ; 
while  the  cork  would  tend  to  go  slower,  and 
would  keep  behind,  holding  the  bullet  back." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco.     "  I  see  that  it  would." 

"  In  the  same  manner,"  continued  Forester, 
"if  you  were  to  make  a  wooden  ball  to  be  fired 
out  of  a  cannon,  and  were  to  bore  a  small  hole 
in  at  one  side,  and  pour  lead  in  and  leave  it 
there,  and  then  fire  it  from  the  cannon,  the 
loaded  side  of  the  ball,  that  is  the  side  which 
had  the  lead  in  it,  would  keep  foremost  all  the 
time,  and  would  strike  first ;  or  rather  the  ball 
would  strike  the  object  with  that  side  of  it  fore 
most. 

"  Then  again,"  continued  Forester,  "  suppose 
we  were  to  take  a  second  wooden  ball,  just  like 
the  first,  and  bore  a  hole  in  it  as  before,  only 
instead  of  pouring  lead  into  it,  leave  it  empty ; 
and  then  fire  it  from  the  cannon.  Now  the  side 
of  the  ball  that  was  not  bored  will  be  the 
heaviest,  for  that  side  is  solid  wood  ;  whereas 
the  other  side  has  a  hole  in  it,  which  makes  it 
lighter.  Of  course  the  solid  part  of  the  ball  will 
keep  ahead,  and  bring  the  other  along  after  it." 

"  That  is  very  curious,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forester.     "  Now  it  is  very 


ORDNANCE.  169 


Original  mode  of  making  shells. 


important  in  firing  a  bomb-shell  that  the  fuse 
should  be  kept  behind, — especially  when  the 
shell  strikes  ;  because  although  the  fuse  might 
not  have  been  put  out  by  the  wind  while  it  was 
passing  through  the  air,  it  would  be  very  likely 
to  be  put  out  on  striking  the  ground,  if  the  shell 
were  to  strike  fuse  foremost.  When  shells  were 
first  made  it  was  the  custom  to  have  the  iron 
cast  thicker  on  the  side  opposite  to  the  fuse,  so 
as  to  make  that  end  the  heaviest.  This  was  to 
make  it  sure  that  the  shell  would  fall  with  the 
fuse  uppermost.  It  was  found,  however,  at  last, 
that  this  was  not  necessary  ;  for  the  shell  would 
always  go  with  the  solid  part  foremost,  even  if 
that  part  was  not  any  thicker  than  the  other. 
The  reason  was,  that  the  hole  left  for  the  fuse 
made  that  side  of  the  shell  so  much  lighter  than 
the  other,  that  it  would  go  right  without  any 
difference  of  thickness  in  the  sides  of  the  shell. 
"  It  is  very  important,  you  see,"  continued 
Forester,  "  that  the  fuse  should  be  uppermost, 
for  when  the  shell  falls,  it  comes  down  with 
prodigious  force.  If  it  strikes  the  ground  it 
buries  itself  in  the  earth,  out  of  sight.  Some 
times  it  goes  down  several  feet,  and  when  it 
bursts  there,  it  throws  up  the  earth  and  makes 


170      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Hand  grenades.  Objection  to  them. 

an  enormous  hole, — big  enough  sometimes  to 
swallow  up  a  cart  and  oxen." 

"  I  should  like  to  see  it,"  said  Marco. 

"  You  could  not  be  near  enough,"  replied  For 
ester,  "  to  see  it  well  without  being  in  great  dan 
ger.  In  old  times  they  used  to  have  very  small 
shells,  such  as  a  man  could  hold  in  his  hand,  and 
throw  among  the  enemy  upon  the  field  of  battle  ; 
but  they  found  that  this  plan  did  not  work  very 
well." 

"  Why  not  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  the  men  could  not  throw  them  very 
far,"  said  Forester ;  "  and  then,  besides,  acci 
dents  would  often  happen.  You  see  the  men 
were  obliged  to  light  the  fuse  with  a  match,  and 
then  throw  the  shell  quick,  so  as  to  be  sure  to 
get  it  off  before  it  should  explode." 

•'  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  that.  That  is  the  way  we  fire  India  crack 
ers." 

"  Yes,"  rejoined  Forester  ;  "  and  does  not  the 
cracker  sometimes  go  off  suddenly  in  the  boy's 
hands  ?" 

"  No,"  replied  Marco,  "  not  unless  he  is  care- 


"  True,"  replied  Forester  ;  "  but  boys  will  be 
careless  sometimes,  and  so  will  soldiers.     Then 


ORDNANCE.  171 

What  a,  mortar  is.  Shot  and  shells.  Aim. 


besides,  the  fuse  might  burn  too  quick, — or  the 
man  who  held  the  grenade  might  be  shot  down 
after  he  had  lighted  it,  and  before  he  had  time 
to  throw  it.'3 

"  Grenade  ?3'  repeated  Marco.  "  Do  they 
call  these  small  shells  grenades  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester  ;  "  and  the  men  that 
throw  them  were  called  grenadiers.  But  they 
don't  use  grenades  now." 

There  was  a  short  pause  in  the  conversation 
after  this,  when  at  length  Marco  remembered 
that  Forester  had  not  explained  to  him  exactly 
what  a  mortar  was. 

"  You  told  me/3  said  he,  "  that  a  mortar  was 
to  fire  bomb-shells  with.  Why  don't  they  fire 
them  out  of  cannons  ?" 

"  One  reason  is,33  replied  Forester,  "  that  they 
wish  to  throw  shells  in  a  different  direction  from 
balls.  Balls  are  aimed  directly  at  the  object 
which  the  gunner  wishes  to  strike,  or  rather  a 
little  above  it ;  and  they  wish  to  have  them  go 
through  the  air  in  as  straight  a  line  as  possible ; 
so  they  point  the  guns  a  little  above  the  mark." 

"  What  is  that  for  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  the  weight  of  the  ball,33  said  Forester, 
"  keeps  it  falling  all  the  time  while  it  is  passing 
through  the  air  ;  and  so  if  they  were  to  aim 


172       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Gunnery.  Calculations.  Mortars ;  large  but  short. 

directly  at  the  object,  the  ball  would  have  fallen 
below  it,  before  it  came  to  strike.  So  they 
point  it  above.  But  it  requires  a  nice  calcula 
tion  or  a  great  deal  of  practice,  to  know  how 
far  above  to  point  it." 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  can  make  any  calcu 
lation,"  said  Marco. 

"  They  can,"  replied  Forester.  "  They  can 
make  a  very  exact  calculation.  They  know 
exactly  the  curve  that  a  ball  or  any  thing  else 
thrown  in  the  air,  makes  in  moving.  Then 
they  know  how  far  off  the  object  is  which  they 
mean  to  strike,  and  how  much  gunpowder  they 
put  in,  and  how  strong  it  is  ;  and  they  have 
rules  by  which  they  can  determine  how  high 
the  gun  must  be  elevated  to  throw  the  ball  to 
the  right  point.  It  is  quite  a  science." 

"  I  should  think  it  was,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forester  ;  "  to  be  a  good  gun 
ner,  a  man  must  be  a  good  mathematician. 
Schools  of  artillery  are  schools  of  mathematics." 

"  Well,"  said  Marco,  "  and  now  about  mor 
tars  ?" 

"  Mortars,"  said  Forester,  "  must  be  larger 
than  cannon,  because  the  shells  which  they  are 
intended  to  throw  are  larger  than  the  balls 


ORDNANCE.  173 


Direction  of  shells.  Origin  of  the  name. 

which  the  cannon  are  intended  to  throw  ;  but 
they  need  not  be  so  long." 

"  Why  not  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Because  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  shells 
should  be  thrown  with  so  much  force.  They 
are  to  be  thrown  up  into  the  air  in  order  that 
they  may  fall  down  upon  the  object  which  they 
are  intended  to  destroy,  and  lodge  there  before 
they  explode.  If  they  were  to  be  thrown 
straight  through  the  air,  like  a  ball,  they  would 
perhaps  pass  entirely  by  the  object  before  ex 
ploding,  and  so  do  no  harm." 

"  Oh  yes,"  said  Marco,  "  they  would  do  a 
great  deal  of  harm,  by  tearing  through  it." 

"  That  is  true,"  replied  Forester,  "  though 
they  would  do  much  less  harm  than  they  would 
do  by  lodging  and  exploding  on  the  spot. 

"  The  mortar,  accordingly,"  continued  For 
ester,  "  is  made  short  and  large,  and  it  stands  in 
almost  an  upright  position ;  so  that  instead  of 
looking  like  a  common  cannon,  it  resembles 
somewhat  an  apothecary's  mortar.  That  is  the 
way  it  gets  its  name." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco  ;  "  I  recollect  now  that  I 
have  seen  them  in  the  Navy  Yard  at  Brooklyn." 

"  There  is  another  thing  peculiar  about  a 
mortar/'  said  Forester. 


174       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMOR 


Y. 


The  recoil  of  guns.  The  recoil  of  mortars.  The  mortar-bod. 

"  What  is  that  ?"  asked  Marco. 

The  mortar  bed,"  said  Forester.  "  When  a 
gun  is  fired  or  a  cannon,  there  is  a  recoil ;  that 
is,  the  gun  is  thrown  back  at  the  same  instant 
that  the  ball  is  thrown  forward.  Now  all  heavy 
guns  are  mounted  upon  very  strong  carriages, 
and  the  force  of  the  recoil  is  expended  in 
trundling  the  carriages  back  a  little  way.  But 
as  the  mortar  is  pointed  up  into  the  air,  the  re 
coil  tends  to  drive  the  mortar  itself  down  into 
the  ground  ;  and  consequently,  if  the  frame  that 
it  rested  upon  was  not  very  heavy  and  strong, 
it  would  be  broken  all  to  pieces  by  the  force  of 
the  explosion." 

"  They  need  not  have  any  frame  at  all,"  said 
Marco.  "  They  might  put  the  mortar  directly 
upon  the  ground." 

"  Then,"  said  Forester,  "  they  could  not  move 
it  so  as  to  point  it  in  different  directions." 

"  Oh  no,"  said  Marco. 

"  You  see,"  continued  Forester,  "  it  is  neces 
sary  sometimes  to  elevate  or  depress  the  mortar 
more  or  less,  and  also  to  move  it  a  little  to  the 
right  or  left,  according  to  the  position  of  the 
object  which  they  wish  to  strike.  Therefore  it 
must  be  regularly  mounted,  and  the  frame  which 
it  is  mounted  upon  must  be  very  heavy  and 


ORDNANCE.  175 

Mortars  at  sea.  Bomb-ketches.  Marco's  plan. 

solid,  so  as  to  resist  the  recoil.  And  it  must  be 
made  so  as  to  turn  round  upon  a  pivot. 

"  Sometimes,"  continued  Forester,  "  they  use 
mortars  at  sea.  In  this  case  they  place  them 
upon  vessels  of  a  peculiar  kind  called  bomb- 
ketches.  These  vessels  are  made  very  strong. 
The  builders  use  very  heavy  timbers  in  the 
construction  of  them,  and  strengthen  them  with 
a  great  many  braces.  If  they  were  not  to  do 
this,  the  vessels  would  be  soon  shattered  to 
pieces  by  the  force  of  the  explosions." 

After  Forester  had  said  this,  there  was  quite 
a  pause.  Marco  seemed  to  be  musing  upon 
what  he  had  heard.  At  last  he  said, 

"  Cousin  Forester,  when  I  get  to  Vermont  I 
mean  to  borrow  an  iron  mortar  and  fire  it." 

"  Oh,  you  can  not  fire  a  common  mortar," 
said  Forester. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  I  can  tie  up  the  gun 
powder  in  a  paper,  for  a  cartridge,  and  put  it  in 
the  bottom  of  the  mortar,  and  then  put  in  a 
round  stone,  as  big  as  will  go  in,  for  a  bomb 
shell." 

"  And  then,"  said  Forester,  "  how  can  you 
fire  it  ? — there  is  no  touch-hole." 

"  I  know  that,"  said  Marco,  "  but  I  could 
make  a  fuse  and  pass  it  into  the  mortar  along 


176       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


He  contrives  a  mortar. 


by  the  side  of  the  stone,  and  so  light  the  outer 
end  of  it." 


"  Well,"  said  Forester,  "  perhaps  you  would 
succeed  in  getting  it  off,  but  it  would  be  a  very 
dangerous  experiment ;  for  the  stone  would  be 
as  likely  to  come  down  upon  your  head,  as  upon 
any  thing  else  of  the  same  bigness." 


THE    BREAKING    UP  177 


State  of  the  roads  in  Vermont.  Drifts. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
THE    BREAKING   UP. 

A  LTHOUGH  the  snow  had  nearly  disap- 
~t*-  peared  from  Connecticut,  and  even  Mas 
sachusetts,  when  Forester  and  Marco  Paul 
passed  through  those  states  on  their  visit  to  the 
armory,  yet  they  found,  when  they  reached 
Vermont,  vast  stores  of  it  still  remained.  The 
route  which  they  took  required  them  to  make  a 
day's  journey  by  land,  at  last,  to  reach  Mr. 
Forester's.  This  day's  ride,  which  they  took 
in  the  stage,  would  have  carried  them  home 
if  the  traveling  had  been  tolerable;  but  the 
state  of  the  roads,  caused  by  the  breaking  up 
of  the  winter,  was  such  that  they  went  on  very 
slowly. 

In  some  places  the  wheels  of  the  coach  ran 
along  very  easily  upon  the  thin  stratum  of  ice 
which  remained  upon  the  road  and  kept  it  hard. 
At  other  times  they  plowed  their  way  along 
through  deep  patches  of  snow,  extending  for 
miles, — the  remains  of  the  great  drifts  of  the 
winter  ;  and  sometimes  these  drifts  were  so  deep 
M 


178       THE   SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  snow.  Long  hill.  Speculations. 

that  the  wheels  of  the  coach  would  set  fast  in 
them.  In  such  cases  the  passengers  would 
have  to  get  out,  and  then  the  driver  would  urge 
the  horses  to  draw  out  the  empty  carriage  to 
the  land  beyond,-.  At  other  places  still,  the  sur 
face  of  the  ground  seemed  broken,  containing 
patches  of  a  hard  crust,  with  deep  holes  filled 
with  soft  mud  between  them.  The  horses'  hoofs 
would  break  through  in  such  cases,  and  some- 
limes  the  wheels  would  sink  in  up  to  the  hubs, 
making  it  almost  impossible  to  get  along  at  all. 

In  one  such  place  as  this,  at  the  foot  of  a 
long  hill,  the  passengers  had  to  get  out,  in  order 
to  make  it  possible  for  the  horses  to  go  on ;  and 
after  they  were  out,  and  the  horses  had  drawn 
the  coach  out  of  the  worst  of  the  slough,  they 
called  out  to  the  driver  to  drive  along,  saying, 
that  they  would  walk  up  the  hill.  There  was 
a  bank  at  the  side  of  the  road,  where  they  could 
walk  on  the  grass  all  the  way  up ;  and,  though 
it  rained,  they  all  had  umbrellas.  They  walked 
two  and  two,  and  Marco  and  Forester  walked 
together. 

"  Marco,"  said  Forester,  after  they  had  com 
menced  making  this  ascent,  "  I  don't  believe 
you  know  what  makes  it  so  muddy." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco  ;  "  the  rain." 


THE  BREAKING   UP.  179 

Operation  of  the  frost.  Freezing  of  the  ground. 

"  No,"  said  Forester. 

"  Then  it  is  the  melting  of  the  snow,"  said 
Marco. 

"  No,"  said  Forester. 

"  What  is  it,  then  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  It  is  the  frost,"  said  Forester.  "  The  frost 
operates  very  curiously, — in  a  manner  that  few 
persons  fully  understand.  I  will  explain  it  to 
you. 

"  What  water  there  is  in  the  ground,  in  the 
fall  of  the  year,"  continued  Forester,  "freezes 
and  swells.  It  of  course  swells  the  ground  up 
with  it." 

"  I  never  knew  that  before,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "  that  is  the  case.  You 
knew  that  water  always  expanded  in  freezing, 
didn't  you  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco. 

"  And,  of  course,"  said  Forester,  "  it  causes 
the  ground  to  swell,  unless  the  ground  is  com 
posed  of  sand  or  some  porous  material  which 
enables  the  water  to  swell  into  the  pores,  with 
out  raising  the  ground  itself.  In  all  common 
soils  it  swells  the  land,  and  raises  it." 

"  How  much  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  O,  an  inch  or  two,"  replied  Forester ; 
"  sometimes  more.  Did  you  never  observe, 


180      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 


Frost  the  great  tiller  of  the  ground. 


where  a  large  stone  peeps  out  of  the  ground, 
that  when  the  ground  freezes  there  is  an  inden 
tation  all  around  the  stone,  as  if  it  had  set 
tled  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco,  "  I've  seen  the  stones 
so  in  the  pasture.  I  thought  they  really  set 
tled." 

"  No,"  said  Forester,  "  they  remain  as  they 
are ;  but  the  land  rises,  being  swollen  by  the 
frozen  water  that  is  in  it.  The  whole  surface 
of  the  ground  is  raised  in  this  way  every  win 
ter,  and  then,  in  the  spring,  when  the  ground 
thaws,  it  lays  up  light,  all  ready  for  roots  to  ex 
tend  themselves  in  every  direction  into  it. 
Thus  the  frost  is  the  great  natural  pulverizer 
of  the  fields.  All  summer,  in  the  fields  and  in 
the  woods,  the  roots  are  pushing  themselves 
forth  in  every  direction,  and  filling  up  the  earth, 
and  the  loose  particles  are  washed  into  the  in 
terstices,  and  men  and  animals  tread  it  down 
so  that  it  becomes  quite  hard ;  and  then  the 
frost  comes  in  the  fall  and  winter,  and  swells  it 
all  up  again,  so  as  to  separate  the  particles  of 
earth  from  each  other  a  little ;  and  then,  when 
the  water  thaws  in  the  spring,  it  leaves  them 
so,  all  ready  for  the  roots  to  take  a  fresh 
growth." 


THE    BREAKING    UP.  181 


Effects  of  the  expansion. 


"  What  an  excellent  plan,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "  it  saves  the  farmer  a 
vast  deal  of  labor ;  but  there  are  some  inconve 
niences  that  arise  from  it." 

"  What  are  they  ?"  asked  Marco. 

«  Why,  there  are  two  principal  ones,"  said 
Forester.  "  First,  when  the  ground  rises  in 
this  manner  it  lifts  up  every  thing  upon  it ; 
buildings,  fences,  and  every  thing  else." 

"  Not  the  houses,"  said  Marco. 

"  Yes,"  said  Forester,  "  if  they  rest  upon  it ; 
that  is,  upon  the  upper  part  of  the  ground, 
which  is  the  part  lifted.  To  prevent  this,  men 
dig  down  and  lay  the  foundations  upon  the 
lower  part  of  the  ground,  which  remains  at 
rest — because  it  is  so  far  below  the  cold  air, 
that  the  water  in  it  doesn't  get  frozen.  But 
fences  can  not  well  be  protected ;  for  the  sur 
face  of  the  earth  will  freeze  around  the  posts, 
and  thus  when  it  rises,  it  heaves  them  up  a  lit 
tle  way.  The  next  year  they  get  hove  up  a 
little^  higher,  and  so,  finally,  sometimes  out  of 
the  ground." 

"  Entirely  ?"  asked  Marco. 

"  Why,  so  far  that  they  fall  over,"  said  For 
ester.  "  But  the  greatest  of  the  inconveniences 
produced  by  the  swelling  of  the  land,  is  on  the 


182       THE   SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  roads  spoiled.      The  top  of  the  hill.      Forester  concludes  to  stop. 

roads.  In  the  spring  of  the  year,  when  the  roads 
thaw,  the  water  which  is  in  the  gravel  shrinks 
in  thawing,  and  leaves  the  gravel  not  only  wet, 
but  lying  loosely  as  if  it  had  been  plowed  and 
harrowed.  This  is  what  makes  the  road  so 
soft.  It  isn't  the  rain,  or  the  melting  snow ;  for 
you  know,  in  summer,  after  a  long  rain,  though 
the  road  is  as  wet  as  it  can  be,  it  is  not  so  soft 
as  it  is  now." 

Forester  would  have  explained  the  subject 
more  fully  to  Marco,  but  they  now  arrived  at 
the  top  of  the  hill,  and  got  into  the  coach  again. 
They  rode  on  until  nearly  night,  and  were  then 
more  than  twenty  miles  from  home.  Now  For 
ester  had  an  uncle  who  lived  in  the  part  of  the 
country  where  they  were  passing  ;  and  as  they 
were  tired,  and  Forester  thought  there  would 
be  some  danger  of  upsetting  in  riding  in  the 
night,  they  concluded  to  stop  there  and  to  take 
the  next  stage  home. 

"  When  will  the  next  stage  come  along  ?" 
asked  Marco. 

"  Day  after  to-morrow,"  said  Forester.  "  The 
stage  goes  one  day  and  comes  the  next." 

Marco  anticipated  some  pleasure  in  calling  to 
see  this  uncle.  He  lived  in  a  solitary  place 
among  the  Green  Mountains,  upon  his  farm. 


THE    BREAKING    UP.  183 

Forester's  uncle  sick.        Marco  is  to  go  for  Mr.  Forester.       The  letter. 

Their  pleasure  was,  however,  very  much  marred 
on  their  arrival,  at  learning  that  their  uncle 
was  sick.  Forester  watched  with  him  that 
night,  and  the  next  morning  he  was  worse. 
They  wanted  to  send  to  Mr.  Forester  to  come 
and  see  him,  as  the  physician  considered  him 
in  danger.  There  was  nobody  to  send  but 
Marco  ;  for  Forester  was  unwilling  to  leave  his 
uncle,  and  the  family  were  also  very  unwilling 
that  he  should  go.  Marco  volunteered  to  take 
a  wagon,  and  go  for  his  uncle  Forester.  It  was 
only  twenty  miles,  he  said,  and  he  could  drive 
twenty  miles  very  easily.  Forester  was  very 
much  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do.  He  was 
unwilling  to  send  Marco  alone,  on  such  an  ex 
pedition,  but  there  seemed  to  be  no  alternative. 
So  the  horse  was  harnessed  into  a  light  wagon, 
the  next  morning,  and  Marco  took  his  seat  in 
it.  Forester  wrote  a  letter  to  his  father,  describ 
ing  the  circumstances  of  his  uncle's  sickness, 
and  he  gave  Marco  many  charges  to  drive 
slowly,  to  walk  the  horse  nearly  all  the  way, 
and  to  keep  well  up  on  the  highest  side  of  the 
wagon  in  going  over  the  drifts  of  snow ;  and, 
finally,  if  he  got  into  any  difficulty,  or  found 
that  he  could  not  get  along,  to  stop  at  any 


184      THE   SPRINGFIELD   ARMORY. 

Land  overflowed.  Marco's  difficulties.  The  traveler,, 

house,  and  hire  a  man  to  go  the  rest  of  the  way 
with  him. 

Marco  was  very  much  pleased  at  being  in 
trusted  with  so  important  an  enterprise.  He 
went  on  ten  miles  without  any  special  hin 
drance.  The  road  was  lonely,  conducting  him 
through  glens  and  forests,  and  among  swamps 
and  streams  swelled  to  overflowing  with  the 
rains  and  the  melted  snows.  These  streams, 
however,  had  all  bridges,  and  there  were  cause 
ways  across  the  swamps,  so  that  Marco  found 
no  difficulty  with  them  until,  at  last,  when  he 
was  within  about  ten  miles  of  home,  he  came 
to  a  place  where  he  saw  the  water  standing  in 
the  road,  apparently  quite  deep,  for  a  long  dis 
tance  before  him.  There  were  great  swamps 
on  each  side,  which  were  also  full  to  overflow 
ing  with  water,  and  about  at  the  middle  of  the 
inundated  part  of  the  road  a  strong  current  was 
setting  across  the  road,  with  a  large  cake  of  ice 
floating  down  upon  it,  exactly  in  his  way. 

Marco  judged  that  the  water  was  not  very 
deep,  however,  in  the  road,  from  the  height  at 
which  it  stood  at  an  old  brush  fence  which  ex 
tended  along  on  one  side  of  the  road.  While 
he  was  hesitating,  however,  what  to  do,  he  saw 
a  pedestrian  traveler  advancing  along  the  road, 


THE    BREAKING    UP.  185 

Marco  perplexed.  The  traveler's  proposal. 

on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  He  had  a 
bundle  on  his  back.  He  stopped,  like  Marco, 
as  soon  as  he  reached  the  water. 

Marco  called  out  to  him,  in  a  loud  voice, 
"  Can  I  come  along  through  this  water  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  the  man  ;  "  I  suppose 
so." 

Marco  hesitated  a  moment  in  doubt.  He 
perceived,  however,  that  the  water  could  not 
be  very  deep  ;  so  that  if  he  should  fall  in,  he 
would  only  get  a  wetting.  Then  that  man  was 
there,  ready  to  come  to  his  aid  if  any  accident 
should  happen.  Besides,  he  could  not  turn 
round  very  well,  where  he  was,  to  get  back 
again,  even  if  he  had  wished  to  turn  hack  ;  so 
he  boldly  pushed  on.  The  horse  waded  along 
the  road,  the  wagon  following  him,  and  tipping 
to  one  side  or  to  the  other,  according  to  the  in 
equalities  of  the  snow  and  ice  which  yet  re 
mained  under  the  water  on  the  track.  When 
Marco  got  to  the  middle,  he  had  to  wait  a  min 
ute  or  two  for  a  cake  of  ice  to  float  by  ;  then 
he  went  on,  and  the  horse  soon  came  out  upon 
the  firm  ground — his  limbs  dripping  with  the 
water. 

The  traveler  then  wanted  Marco  to  turn 
round  and  carry  him  across  the  water,  and  of- 


186       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

The  pond.  Bridge  goiio. 

fered  to  pay  him  well  for  it  if  he  would.  But 
Marco  did  not  see  how  he  could  turn  safely  ; 
so  he  declined  this  proposition,  advising  the  man 
to  clamber  along  as  well  as  he  could  on  the 
brush  fence.  Marco  sat  in  the  wagon  looking 
back  for  a  few  minutes,  laughing  at  the  comical 
figure  which  the  man  made,  with  his  bundle  on 
his  back,  clambering  along  on  this  unusual  sort 
of  bridge.  He  said  to  himself  that  the  man 
looked  like  a  hump-backed  monkey  climbing 
trees.  After  he  saw  that  the  man  got  safely 
over,  he  rode  on. 

He  however  soon  encountered  a  more  serious 
difficulty  than  this.  He  came  to  a  large  pond. 
The  road  passed  around  the  end  of  it.  A  large 
stream  issued  from  the  pond  at  this  place,  and 
the  road  had  crossed  this  stream  just  by  the 
edge  of  the  pond,  on  a  bridge.  The  water  was, 
however,  so  high,  that  the  bridge  was  not  in 
sight ;  but  Marco  supposed  it  was  there,  and 
that  he  could  ride  over  it,  through  the  water. 
There  was  a  small  house  near  the  edge  of  the 
woods,  a  short  distance  back,  and  just  as  Marco 
was  going  to  drive  forward,  a  man  came  out 
from  behind  some  piles  of  lumber  near  it,  and 
called  out  to  Marco,  telling  him  that  the  bridge 
had  been  carried  away. 


THE    BREAKING    UP.  187 


Marco  and  the  farmer.  Marco's  plan. 

"  Then  how  shall  I  get  across  ?"  said  Marco. 

"  You  can't  get  across  at  all,"  said  the  man. 

"  But  I  must  go,"  said  Marco. 

"  Well,"  said  the  man,  "  if  you  must  go,  and 
can't  go,  I  don't  know  how  you'll  settle  it."  So 
saying,  he  turned  around  and  disappeared. 

Marco  got  out  of  the  wagon,  fastened  the 
horse,  and  went  back  to  the  house.  The  man 
was  at  work  under  a  shed,  making  a  cart-body. 
He  kept  on  with  his  work,  but  in  answer  to 
Marco's  questions,  he  told  him  that  it  was  im 
possible  to  get  across  there  till  the  water  went 
down,  and  the  bridge  was  repaired ;  and  that 
there  was  no  road  by  which  he  could  go  around 
the  difficulty,  except  by  a  circuit  of  fifteen  miles. 
Marco  sat  down  upon  a  log  lying  in  the  yard, 
in  a  state  of  great  perplexity.  After  some  min 
utes,  he  looked  up,  and  said, 

"  Could  you  work  for  me,  sir  ?" 

"  Work  for  you  ?"  repeated  the  man. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco.  "  I  will  pay  you  for  it 
at  the  rate  of  a  dollar  a  day."  Marco  had  heard 
that  this  was  pretty  high  wages  for  that  part  of 
the  country  at  that  time. 

"  I  don't  believe  you  have  got  any  money," 
said  the  man. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco ;  and  so  saying  he  took 


188       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Negotiations.  Plan  for  a  raft.  The  raft  began, 

out  one  half  a  dollar  from  his  pocket,  and  showed 
it  to  the  man. 

t{  What  do  you  want  me  to  do  ? 

'•  To  help  me  "build  a  raft,  to  raft  my  horse 
and  wagon  over'this  water." 

"  O,  you  can't  raft  them  over,"  said  the  man. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco  ;  "  you  must  fell  me  some 
small  trees,  and  cut  them  into  lengths,  and  roll 
them  into  the  water.  Then  I  shall  want  to 
buy  some  of  your  boards  to  cover  it  with." 

"  O,  no,"  said  the  man  ;  "  we  could  not  make 
a  raft  in  that  way  big  enough  to  float  your  horse 
and  wagon." 

"  No,"  said  Marco,  "  but  we  could  raft  the 
horse  over  first,  and  then  the  wagon." 

"  Well,"  said  the  man,  "  I'll  try  it  for  half  a 
dollar." 

"  No,"  said  Marco  ;  "  I'll  pay  you  at  the  rate 
of  a  dollar  a  day  for  the  time  it  takes." 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  man,  "  any  way  to  suit 
you.  I  don't  know  but  that  you  will  get  over." 

So  the  man  went  with  Marco  down  to  the 
shore  of  the  pond,  and  began  to  cut  down  some 
trees.  He  told  Marco  which  were  the  lightest 
and  most  suitable,  and  when  about  twelve  of 
the  lengths  had  been  prepared,  he  and  Marco 
rolled  them  into  the  water,  and  placed  a  board 


THE    BREAKING    UP. 


189 


Plans. 


across  them  to  hold  them  together.  The  man 
then  walked  out  upon  the  board,  and  with  an 
auger  bored  holes  down  through  it  into  the  logs, 
and  pinned  it  down.  There  was  one  pin  driven 
into  each  log.  Several  other  boards  were 
placed  alongside  of  the  first,  until  the  raft  was 
floored  over.  The  man  then  cut  a  long  pole  to 
push  with.  They  were  going  to  push  the  raft 
across  at  the  end  of  the  pond,  just  above  where 
the  outlet  issued  from  it.  They  led  the  horse 
carefully  on  to  the  raft,  and  Marco  held  him 


190      THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Success  of  the  plans.  Marco  offers  his  raft  for  sale. 

while  the  man  pushed  over.  They  accomplished 
the  passage  safely,  and  then  came  back  for  the 
wagon.  The  transportation  of  the  wagon  was 
effected  without  difficulty,  and  the  horse  har 
nessed  into  it  again,  and  Marco  was  once  more 
able  to  proceed.  The  man  estimated  his  work 
at  one  fourth  of  a  day,  and  the  boards  and  logs 
he  considered  to  be  worth  twenty-five  cents. 
So  Marco  paid  him  half  a  dollar,  and  was  just 
going  to  get  into  his  wagon,  when  the  stage 
appeared  in  sight,  coming  toward  him.  "  Now," 
said  Marco,  "  I'll  sell  my  raft  to  the  driver  of 
this  stage." 

When  the  driver  saw  the  condition  of  the 
road,  he  exclaimed, 

"  What !  is  this  bridge  carried  away  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  man,  "it  went  off  last  night. 

"  And  how  then  am  I  to  get  over  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Marco,  "  unless  you  buy 
my  raft." 

"  Your  raft  ?"  said  the  driver  ;  "  is  that  your 
raft  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Marco ;  "  I've  just  paid  for  it, 
labor  and  materials.  It  has  cost  me  half  a  dol 
lar,  besides  all  the  planning  of  it.  You  may 
have  it  for  the  same." 

The  driver  looked  at  the  raft  a  moment,  with 


THE    BREAKING    UP.  191 

The  driver  buys  it. 

a  smile  on  his  countenance,  and  then  said, 
"  But  I  need  not  pay  you  for  it.  There  the  raft 
is.  I've  only  to  take  it  and  use  it,  if  I've  a  mind 
to." 

"  But  I  forbid  you  to  use  it,"  said  Marco, 
"  unless  you  pay  me  for  it." 

"  What  good  will  your  forbidding  do?"  said 
the  driver.  "  I  happen  to  be  the  strongest." 

"  O,  yes,"  said  Marco  ;  "  you  can  rob  me  of 
it,  I  know.  If  I  am  so  unlucky  as  to  get  rob 
bed  here  in  this  solitary  place,  I  suppose  I  must 
submit  to  it ;  that's  all." 

The  driver  did  not  quite  like  this  aspect  of 
the  subject,  and  besides,  his  passengers  began 
to  put  their  heads  out  of  the  windows  of  the 
coach,  and  told  him  that  he  had  better  buy  the 
raft.  So  he  gave  Marco  half  a  dollar,  saying, 
at  the  same  time,  that  it  would  cost  him  one 
quarter  of  a  dollar  more  to  make  it  big  enough 
to  float  his  stage-coach  ;  but  even  that  he  ad 
mitted  would  be  better  than  to  go  fifteen  miles 
around.  Thus  Marco  got  across  the  water 
without  any  other  inconvenience  than  the  de 
lay.  He  arrived  home  safely.  His  uncle  For 
ester  returned  next  day  in  the  wagon  to  see  his 
sick  brother.  He  crossed  on  the  raft.  He 
found  his  brother  better,  and  on  the  third  day 


192       THE    SPRINGFIELD    ARMORY. 

Forester  gets  home. 

he  and  Forester  returned  in  the  stage, — but  by 
this  time  the  bridge  had  been  repaired. 

Marco  remained  at  Forester's  father's  a  long 
time,  and  had  various  adventures  there,  but 
they  can  not  be  described  in  this  volume. 


14  DAY  USE 

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LOAN  DEPT. 


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